The southern plains of England…

While Stevens had been on a call with Lee Gun…

Koo-goo-goong!!

“!!”

Hugo had been distributing snacks to the Leo temple’s Constructs inside the barrack when something surprised him. “Shit. That’s…!”

Monsters had appeared above the plains of England.

[Kee-ehhhk!]

These monsters looked like mantises with wings. They were clearly coming from a nearby city. The numerous humans that they were holding as they flew toward some unknown destination were proof of that.

They were headed toward Asia, specifically the place where Confusion resided.

To destroy humanity, Confusion had been raising his children. And the humans were nutrients for them.

Right now, Confusion was putting great effort into rearing Red Eye, which was yet to be born.

Anyway, the monsters were gathering food from various locations for Red Eye.

Of course, Hugo wasn’t one to stand back.

“Damn it!” He rushed toward a box filled with weapons.

However, the Leo Constructs said, “O’, weak Zodiac Saint of the Sagittarius temple, if you give us more snacks, we’ll let you borrow a weapon!”

This was why he had been working hard to provide snacks for them. He had been waiting for them to give him a weapon, but he no longer had the time to wait.

Hugo took a bow from the Leo temple’s barrack without permission. Then he ran toward the monsters, surprising Stevens.

The Leo Saint said, “Ah! Hey! What the hell is he doing? Hey! It’s dangerous! Come back! Hey! You can’t use that bow!” He ended the call with Lee Gun.

On the other hand, Hugo had a scary look in his eyes as he chased after the monsters.

‘I am better off without Teacher.’

Hugo was more famous for being Lee Gun’s supporter, but it wasn’t as if he was incapable of killing monsters on his own.

Moreover, he wouldn't just focus on killing the monsters. He’d act while prioritizing the hostages’ wellbeing.

‘I’ll prove that Teacher was wrong.’

Hugo’s eyes flashed as he sent the Constructs of the Sagittarius temple into the sky.

Woosh!

These Constructs were the ravens that followed the god of the sun. The ravens weaved in the air as they created threads of light.

Flash!

[Sun’s Net (A)]

These were nets made from light. When the hammock-like nets formed in the air, Hugo immediately took up his bow, aiming for the monsters’ arms and legs.

If he made the monsters drop the hostages, the ravens would use the Sun’s Net to catch the humans.

Of course, Lee Gun wouldn’t have cared if there were hostages or not. He would have attacked before Hugo could shoot his bow.

‘I’m different from Teacher, who only attacks the monsters no matter what!’

In one fell swoop, he’d be able to save the hostage. After hiding his presence, Hugo was about to stealthily shoot the arrows.

“!”

However, Hugo shook from fear. As he was about to let his arrows fly, he met eyes with the monster.

It was as if the monster had read Hugo’s attack. Hugo didn’t even have time to process his surprise as the monster suddenly attacked him.

[Kee-ehhhhhk!!]

Kwahng!

The powerful strike washed over the surface.

“Koo-oohk!!”

“Hugo!”

Stevens, who had rushed over, swung his greatsword.

[Lion’s Voice(S)]

Accompanied by the cry of a savage beast, a golden wind flew toward the monster.

Koo-goo-goohng!

However, the attack did nothing at all.

“Koo-oohk!”

The monster seemed to have sensed the energy of the skill. It instantly disappeared.

The Zodiac Saints ground their teeth; just a while ago, a monster of the same species had been killed by Lee Gun.

It had been trying to eat the humans, and Lee Gun had decapitated it as soon as possible.

Normally, one would cut off its arms to save the hostages. One would use a skill that would aim to save the hostages.

However, Lee Gun was different. His actions meant that the hostages would usually plummet several hundred meters through the air. Thankfully, Hugo was able to catch all of them. It was a close shave.

There had been cases where hostages had almost died from the fall, so everyone cussed out Lee Gun whenever such a thing happened.

They accused him of being too obsessed with killing the monsters and not paying any attention to the hostages.

“Hey! Hugo! Behind you! Behind you!”

“!!”

Hugo bit his tongue because the mantis had appeared right in front of him. A flustered Hugo tried to shoot a close-range arrow.

“Hey! I told you not to use that bow!”

As soon as Stevens gave a warning, the bow started to flash.

“W-What the hell! It’s a bomb?” A surprised Hugo immediately threw the bow!

The exploding bow sent the monster flying. The explosion rocked the monster, and the hostage in its mouth fell.

Fortunately, Hugo was able to throw his body toward the hostage and catch them.

Then he became angry at Stevens. “What the hell is that crazy bow?”

“What else?! It’s a bomb your teacher sent to me!”

“What?!”

“He didn’t want to make us weapons, so we asked him to upgrade the weapons we sent him. He sent it back like that!”

“?!!”

“Since they are holy items of our Zodiac, we couldn’t destroy them… Whatever! Hey! Behind you!”

“!”

The mantis appeared behind Hugo. He didn't even have time to dodge as the monster bit into him and dragged him away.

“Kuh-huhk!!!”

“Hugo!”

All he could do was hand off the rescued hostage to Stevens.

“Koo-oohk…!” Hugo desperately grabbed for the teeth that were biting into his neck. However, the monster was much stronger than it looked.

‘Damn it!’

Above all else, his strength was being sapped away.

‘They are eating away at the Divine magical energy…!’

This was to be expected since these monsters followed Abundance. They were similar to the toad monster that Lee Gun and Hugo would kill in the future. They could drain Divine magical energy. That wasn’t all.

‘The hostage…!!’

The hostage in Stevens’s arms was in rough shape.

Was he able to see it because he was captured by the monster? Hugo saw a strange light emanating from the woman’s body. The monster was sucking the strange light.

It was as if her vitality was being drained.

‘Is her life force being stolen?’

Moreover, this was happening despite Hugo having separated the hostage from the monster. The vitality of the hostage would continue to be drained and she would weaken unless the monster was killed.

Hugo had an understanding at that moment.

‘Is that why Teacher always aimed for the monsters first?’

No, he was sure of it. Had Lee Gun rescued the hostage, he would have been delayed in killing the monsters. By that time, the hostages might not be able to open their eyes ever again.

Hugo felt embarrassed.

- You prioritized killing monsters over saving hostages.

- You feel joy in killing monsters.

Hugo ground his teeth when he realized he had said words he couldn’t take back. Of course, he didn’t really know if Lee Gun had focused on killing the monsters because he knew that. Still, it was worth finding out.

If Lee Gun had acted that way because he knew this piece of information…

‘Damn it! I can’t believe I said that.’

He would have to apologize and ask for his forgiveness.

[Kee-ehhhk!!]

“Kuhk…!!!”

At that moment, the monster squeezed Hugo’s neck, and he was deprived of oxygen. His consciousness was fading away.

‘Damn it! At this rate…’

He might die before he could ask Lee Gun for the truth. Just as he was about to lose consciousness, however…

“Idiot!”

“…!”

As a familiar voice rang out, the monster lost its head.

Poo-hahk!!

“!!”

Blood sprayed into the sky, and Hugo couldn’t believe his eyes. “T…Teacher!”

Lee Gun was in front of him.

Looking annoyed, Lee Gun clicked his tongue as he shook off the blood. “I trained you until you could kill them, so what kind of nonsense is this?”

“…!”

“At this rate, you won’t be able to save anyone after I die.”

“What?? What do you mean….”

Instead of answering him, Lee Gun remained silent. He knew he didn’t have long to live.

While he didn’t care about the others, he wanted Hugo to become the hero of this world even if he died.

Even if he was unable to kill all the monsters, he planned on killing them until only the monsters that Hugo could take care of were left in this world. It would allow Hugo to take on his mantle.

This was why Lee Gun moved tirelessly to increase the odds of Hugo being able to clear the monsters. That was all he could do right now.

Stevens didn’t know this, so he was impressed. He looked at the monster Lee Gun had defeated.

“Look at that crazy bastard’s skill….”

He had felt it in the raid in Russia, but Lee Gun was overwhelmingly powerful. It made Stevens think that there was no monster in the world that Lee Gun was unable to kill. It also reinforced his feelings about Lee Gun.

‘He is someone who must not disappear.’

Of course, the thought of Lee Gun disappearing was unimaginable to him.

‘He’s a treasure who’ll save humanity. He’s the support holding up humanity…’

Suddenly, Hugo’s and Stevens’s faces turned pale.

“Teacher!”

“Hey! Lee Gun!”

Lee Gun vomited black blood. They didn’t even have time to catch the hero as he fell.

* * *

“What? Teacher is sick?”

“Lee Gun is sick?!”

Hugo and Stevens couldn’t believe their ears.

As soon as Lee Gun had fallen over, they had taken him to the hospital. Both men were in a state of panic; they had never seen Lee Gun fall over before like this. So they grabbed the doctor by the collar, but Lee Jaewon’s words surprised them.

“What? He’s sick? I never knew this. Since when?”

Lee Gun was lying down, wearing an oxygen mask. Lee Jaewon monitored him as he answered, “I found out about it through coincidence. It seems Lee Gun-nim’s lifespan has been reduced by a lot. From what I heard, it happened after the raid in Russia.”

“What?!”

“I believe someone is gunning for Lee Gun.”

Hugo and Stevens gnashed their teeth.

“It was around the time when we were in Russia… ”

“Is it Jean-Louis?” A surprised Hugo looked at Stevens.

At that moment, Lee Jaewon looked at Hugo with a bit of reproach. He didn’t like that Hugo had been suspicious of Lee Gun and had fought with Lee Gun.

“There is no way a sick person would like killing monsters. The reason Lee Gun seemed obsessed with killing monsters might have something to do with his lifespan…”

A furious Hugo grabbed Lee Jaewon’s shoulders. “If you knew this, why didn’t you say anything? You knew about Teacher’s status, yet you said nothing to me!”

“That’s…!”

“I told him not to say anything. Don’t attack the blameless kid.”

“Lee Gun-nim!”

Surprised by the familiar voice, Stevens and Hugo looked at the bed.

After waking up, Lee Gun ripped off the oxygen mask and the needles. They were a hindrance to him.

“They went overboard with all of this,” he said.

“Teacher!”

“Buzz off! I’m not your teacher. I’ve already excommunicated you.”

Hugo felt a lot of mixed emotions. He had been completely unaware about Lee Gun’s condition, yet had run his mouth. “I’m sorry! I’ll work hard to help you, Teacher! I’ll stand on the frontline from now on!”

It seemed Lee Gun felt as if Hugo was looking down on him. He didn’t want to be treated like a patient, so he threw a pillow at Hugo. “Get out of there. I’m not weak enough where I need help from someone who I taught. I can go on raids. I can continue my work without any problem…”

“No! I’ll help you!”

This seemed to have offended Lee Gun. Letting out murderous intent, he grabbed Hugo by the throat and slammed him to the ground. “Do you not get what I’m saying? Stay in your lane. I don’t like being treated like a has-been. How dare you say you’ll help me…”

“No! I won’t do it as your student! I’ll do it as your friend and comrade! I’ll do it as your equal!”

“…!”

Lee Gun was surprised by those unexpected words, but Hugo was sincere.

Why hadn’t Lee Gun told him about the status of his body? Hugo was his student, someone Lee Gun had to teach. It was Lee Gun’s duty as a teacher to protect his student.

Hugo hadn’t ever tried to understand Lee Gun. He had just looked up to Lee Gun.

‘It’s a chaotic world. In his eyes, there are only two types of people. Those who have to be protected, and those who have to be killed.’

Lee Gun seemed like someone who did as he liked according to his emotions, but the weight on his back was much heavier than what others carried.

“Since I’ve been excommunicated, I’m not in a position to take care of you. If we are friends who are equal, your burden will be reduced, right?”

“….”

“Gun.”

Lee Gun flinched when Hugo called out his name; only Yeonwoo and Junwoo called him that. He felt a wave of longing, and at the same time, he felt embarrassed since it was the first time being referred to as a “friend.”

Lee Gun snorted when he suddenly felt these odd emotions. “Asshole! It seems you’re eager to drop the honorifics.”

“It doesn’t matter. Our ages are the same.”

Lee Gun let out a chuckle. “Do as you like.”

It was at this moment that Lee Gun and Hugo became true friends.