Chapter 103

Chapter 103

The hotel where Zeon was staying offered room service.

In other words, he could have meals brought to him as much as he wanted, even while staying inside his room.

DING-DONG!

A hotel employee rang the bell to Zeon’s room.

Soon, the door opened, and Zeon came out wearing his robe.

‘What a strange person.’

The employee clicked his tongue when he saw Zeon.

He thought it was strange that Zeon had come out with the hood of his robe pulled low, even though he was inside his own room.

There were always guests like this.

People who came to a hotel and could simply relax, yet insisted on remaining fully dressed.

The security of this hotel was perfect.

It was protected by a barrier, and Awakened stood guard, making outside intrusion almost impossible.

And yet, if someone could not relax even inside a guest room like this, there was a high chance they were either a criminal or someone with something to hide.

Zeon silently flicked his finger.

The employee pushed the stretcher cart with the food into the room. Then he placed the food on the table and bowed.

“Please enjoy your meal.”

After the employee closed the door and left, Zeon, who had been hunched over until now, raised his head.

The face revealed beneath the hood was made entirely of sand.

It was not Zeon.

It was a Sand Soldier.

At that instant, the Sand Soldier collapsed and returned to sand.

Inside the room after the employee left, only the food cooling on the table and a heap of sand remained.

＊＊＊

Monsters were a threat to humanity.

Human territory, which had once ruled the entire Earth, had now shrunk to an extremely small portion, and most of the remaining land had become the domain of monsters.

Neo Seoul was also doing everything it could to expand its territory, but so far, it had achieved no notable results.

Neo Seoul’s influence reached only as far as the area around the Mana Stone Mine.

Beyond that, in the distant desert, it had yet to establish any meaningful foothold.

It was common knowledge that the farther one went into the desert, the stronger the monsters became. No one knew what kind of monster might be hiding beneath the sand.

In that way, monsters were threatening beings, but paradoxically, they were also precious resources.

The more powerful a monster’s body was, the more valuable a resource it became.

Hide, scales, bones, blood, internal organs—there was nothing to throw away.

If a Mana Stone happened to come out, it was no different from hitting the jackpot.

In terms of cost-effectiveness, Mana Stones mined from the mine were far better, but Mana Stones harvested from monsters had performance on an entirely different level.

Sometimes, Mana Stones obtained from boss-level monsters contained Skills. What kind of Skill would emerge was random, but with luck, it could bring about a tremendous increase in combat power.

That was why Neo Seoul mobilized countless parties and raid teams for monster hunts and Dungeon subjugations.

The monsters hunted by the Awakened were brought into Neo Seoul and dismantled.

WHIRRRR!

A massive saw blade spun fiercely as it cut through a monster’s corpse. The magically treated saw blade possessed tremendous durability. But even cutting off a single leg of the enormous monster stripped away all its teeth, leaving it ragged in no time.

“Fuck! The blade is completely gone.”

“Replace it quickly.”

They had no choice but to replace the blade and resume dismantling.

Only after replacing the blade countless times was the enormous monster finally dismantled.

The workers carefully moved every part, afraid to spill even a single piece of flesh or a drop of blood.

Tajik watched the work process closely with his arms crossed.

The company he regarded as most important was still Condor SSC. After all, all of his armed strength was based on Condor SSC.

But that did not mean he could neglect the other companies.

His master, Xiaolun, was a terrifying man.

At a glance, he seemed to entrust everything to his close aides and merely watch from the sidelines, but in truth, he observed everything meticulously.

He granted great authority, but if one failed to do work worthy of that authority, he executed them without mercy.

Knowing that, Tajik always inspected the companies under his command and tried to identify their problems.

After the monster processing company, the place he headed to next was the chemical dye company.

One might wonder what was so special about a chemical dye company, but the dye produced here was very special.

It possessed properties such as stealth, concealment, and energy shielding.

If applied to an Awakened’s armor, their survival rate increased by that much.

Because of that, various studies were being conducted here to upgrade the chemical dye.

Tajik looked at the dye bubbling inside a large vat.

It was a dye based on blood extracted from a Grade B monster, the Maned Lizard.

The Maned Lizard had acidic blood.

Its acidic blood was so vicious that even one or two drops falling onto an iron plate would burn a hole clean through it.

There was no need to mention what would happen if it touched human skin.

A single person would melt in an instant.

It was not easy to hunt either.

Because it was highly skilled at concealment and cunning on top of that, hunting one required extensive preparation.

For that reason, Maned Lizards almost never came into the factory.

This time, they had been lucky enough to obtain one.

Tajik watched the work process for a while, then went outside.

After leaving the factory, he headed toward his residence.

His residence was in a high-rise building not far from the factory.

This, too, was a privilege he could enjoy because he was one of Xiaolun’s close aides.

“Hm?”

As Tajik walked through the alley for a while, he suddenly raised his head.

He had sensed a strange incongruity.

It was an alley he usually walked through. But something was different from normal.

It felt strangely dark and gloomy.

“I cannot see the streetlights.”

No matter how deserted an alley was, there were streetlights in Neo Seoul. The same was true of this place, which Tajik passed through every day.

But today, he could not see the streetlights.

“A barrier?”

“It is not a barrier. I cut this place off from the outside with a Sand Curtain.”

At that moment, a low voice came from one side of the alley.

“Who is there?”

Tajik looked in the direction of the voice.

At that instant, someone walked out from the shadowed corner of the alley.

The moment Tajik saw him, a deep crease formed between his brows.

“You are Zeon?”

“We meet again like this.”

The one greeting him with a smile was Zeon.

Tajik looked dumbfounded.

He truly had not expected to meet Zeon inside Neo Seoul.

“How did you enter Neo Seoul?”

“I was lucky enough to obtain a temporary pass.”

“A temporary pass?”

“Yes! An acquaintance gave it to me not long ago, and now I am putting it to good use.”

“If they can issue a temporary pass, they must be in quite a high position. Impressive. To think you have such connections.”

“I was lucky.”

Tajik seemed to be speaking to Zeon comfortably, as if they were old friends. But he was constantly probing him and checking his surroundings.

“What an unusual ability. A Sand Curtain. I suppose this is your Skill?”

“Yes.”

“It must have many uses.”

Tajik’s eyes flashed.

He immediately saw through the usefulness of Zeon’s Skill.

“What is its grade? What is its range? How long can you maintain it?”

“......”

“You will not answer?”

“You are asking me to reveal my hand. Would you do that if you were me?”

“That is true. There is no way you would reveal it so easily.”

Tajik scratched his head.

At that moment, his gaze changed.

His eyes gleamed coldly like a snake’s.

“I will make one last offer. Come under Lord Xiaolun. I will give you the best treatment.”

“If that was what I wanted, I would not have gone through this troublesome method to enter Neo Seoul.”

“As expected, you are the type who prefers moving with your body rather than ordinary conversation. Coincidentally, I am that type as well.”

“That sounds good.”

Zeon smiled.

He had completely cut off the inside from the outside with the Sand Curtain. From outside, no one would know what was happening in here. But its duration was not very long. He could not afford to drag this out.

If someone happened to pass by and see it, they would certainly find it strange.

At that instant, an ominous blood-red aura rose from Tajik’s entire body. It was proof that he was a martial-type Awakened.

Tajik was a Grade B martial artist.

SHING!

He drew a small dagger from his waist.

The dagger, curved like a crescent moon, was only about thirty centimeters long. But an extraordinary sharpness radiated from its curved blade.

“It looks like an item from a Dungeon.”

“I call her Bloody Elena. Once she is drawn, she always sees blood and takes the opponent’s life.”

Tajik had given the dagger a female personality and name.

That was how deeply he was fascinated by the dagger’s power.

Bloody Elena had an effect called “Amplification.”

When Bloody Elena was used, his own ability was amplified by roughly thirty percent.

Thirty percent sounded simple, but it was an enormous increase in combat power.

Tajik licked Bloody Elena with his tongue and said,

“I will not kill you. You are a very special existence.”

As long as he did not stop Zeon’s breathing, there were many ways to make use of him.

He could cut off his limbs, leave only his body, place him in a specially treated storage container so he would not die, and make him obey only his commands.

In the past, such an inhumane method would have been unimaginable, but under Xiaolun, anything was permitted.

Zeon let out a quiet sigh.

“This is why dangerous abilities are a problem.”

“No! They are useful abilities. You will greatly contribute to Neo Seoul’s development. Whether you want to or not.”

TAP!

The moment he finished speaking, Tajik charged at Zeon.

Leaving only an afterimage behind, Tajik closed the distance in an instant.

Zeon flicked his finger.

At that instant, more than ten streams of sand shot like lightning from the Sand Curtain surrounding them.

He had used Sand Blaster.

“That will not work.”

SLASH!

Tajik swung Bloody Elena and cut through the Sand Blaster.

There was nothing the blood-red aura carried by Bloody Elena could not cut.

“First, the legs.”

SWISH!

Tajik lowered his body and aimed for Zeon’s legs.

Just before Bloody Elena, flying at terrifying speed, could cut him, Zeon’s body slid backward.

It was as if someone had tied him with invisible threads and pulled him back.

As he retreated, Zeon flicked his finger again.

SWISH, SWISH, SWISH!

Countless streams of sand shot toward Tajik.

Tajik swung Bloody Elena again and again.

The Sand Blasters shattered and were cut apart.

But no matter how many he cut down, the Sand Blasters had no end.

“Insane! Just how much mana do you have?”

Tajik’s eyes widened.

Zeon was like a mirage.

He was clearly visible, right in front of him, yet he could not be caught.

Whenever Tajik was about to seize him, a rain of Sand Blasters poured down.

It was like a downpour made of sand.

The grains of sand cut by his dagger flew into his eyes and mouth.

In the end, unable to endure any longer, Tajik spat out a curse and unleashed his hidden Skill.

“Fuck! Elena Blade!”

SWISH, SWISH, SWISH!

Dozens of blades made of red aura formed from Bloody Elena and flew toward Zeon.

It was his hidden Skill, one that inevitably led to death once unleashed.

The thought of capturing Zeon had long since vanished from Tajik’s mind.

All that remained was the thought that he had to kill this irritating, troublesome existence.

The blades of red aura flew in while perfectly sealing off every direction Zeon could dodge.

“It is over.”

Just as Tajik became certain of Zeon’s death, it happened.

Dozens of soldiers suddenly appeared and surrounded Zeon.

The Sand Soldiers blocked Tajik’s Skill with their bodies.

BOOOOM!

With an explosion, the Sand Soldiers and the blades made of aura shattered.

“What is this?”

Tajik’s eyes widened in shock.

He was so stunned that he did not even sense Zeon approaching behind him in an instant.

Zeon reached out and grabbed the back of Tajik’s neck. Then strength drained from Tajik’s entire body, and he collapsed.

“Ghk!”

Zeon carefully caught the falling Tajik.

It would be troublesome if the precious body were damaged.

He had deliberately dragged out the fight this long in order to suppress him without leaving a single wound.

“What did you do to my body? Release me at once.”

“What I am going to do starts now.”

“What?”

Instead of answering, Zeon took a glass bottle from his subspace.

What Zeon took out from the glass bottle was something that looked like a piece of wire.

“What is that?”

“Do you happen to feel thirsty?”

Zeon smiled.