Chapter 113

Chapter 113

Kim Kyung-su’s eyes gleamed fiercely.

“What did you just say?”

“I said not to risk your life over something that isn’t worth much.”

“Hah!”

At Zeon’s answer, Kim Kyung-su looked dumbfounded.

The same was true of the other party members.

Yu Seung-hee in particular, whose intentions had been exposed, had turned red in the face.

They had intended to kill Zeon and steal the buggy.

They planned to replace the engine of their broken vehicle with the buggy’s engine.

There was no better environment for murder than the desert.

First of all, there was no need to worry about anyone seeing it. Even if they committed murder, the sand and monsters would take care of the evidence for them.

Because of that, Awakened made full use of the desert environment to kill their enemies or use it as a tool for plunder.

Kim Kyung-su’s party was no different.

Because they had grown up in the same neighborhood and awakened around almost the same time, they shared a special bond.

They had a strong tendency to reject people and Awakened outside their group, and if someone displeased them even slightly, they would band together to fight or kill.

To them, Zeon was extremely tempting prey.

He was alone, and on top of that, he had a buggy, which was essential for desert survival.

If they just dealt with Zeon and abandoned him in the middle of the desert, no one would ever know that a murder had happened here.

Kim Kyung-su asked,

“Judging by the look of you, you seem to be an Awakened too. If you just hand over the vehicle, we’ll let you live. How about it? My offer......”

“I think it’s horseshit. You need to make an offer that makes sense before I can even pretend to listen.”

“You must be pretty skilled, seeing how you’re resisting.”

“I’m not exactly helpless.”

“But there are four of us. I don’t know what your grade is, but dealing with all of us won’t be easy.”

Kim Kyung-su smiled confidently.

If Zeon’s grade was higher than theirs, they would be the ones in trouble.

Even so, the reason he could act so confident was because of Zeon’s outfit.

The higher an Awakened’s grade, the better the items they armed themselves with.

Unless the items had been unearthed from a Dungeon, most equipment was made in workshops in Neo Seoul.

Each workshop had its own characteristics, so if one knew the name of the workshop that made the equipment, one could infer its performance.

The heavy armor Kim Kyung-su’s party was wearing now was also workshop-made.

It was the finest equipment Grade C martial-type Awakened could wear.

A workshop-made masterpiece engraved with a warming magic circle, a lightening magic circle, and even a defensive magic circle.

By contrast, Zeon wore only a robe similar to a coat and no defensive gear whatsoever.

Nor did he carry any offensive weapon.

If he were a magic-type Awakened, he should have had a mana amplification tool such as a staff or wand. If he were a martial-type Awakened, he should have carried a cold weapon such as a sword or spear.

But Zeon had nothing.

In a way, he looked like some fool who had wandered into the desert completely defenseless.

On top of that, he was not an Awakened from Neo Seoul, but from the slums.

There was no reason not to rob him.

SLIIIDE!

Kim Kyung-su’s party drew their weapons all at once.

All the men were martial-type Awakened, while Yu Seung-hee, the only woman, was a magic-type Awakened.

Instead of a sword, Yu Seung-hee held a staff.

She aimed the staff at Zeon and said,

“Bind!”

At that instant, an invisible force rose and began constricting Zeon.

At the same time, the men attacked Zeon all at once.

SWISH!

Three swords came for Zeon’s vital points.

Zeon clicked his tongue and swung his right fist.

“Tsk! People never shed tears until they see blood.”

ROOOAR!

At that moment, dozens of Fire Missiles flew toward the four of them.

“Ghk!”

“Damn it!”

“He’s magic-type.”

Countless Fire Missiles bombarded the startled Kim Kyung-su and his companions.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

“Fuck! What is this?”

“Ghk!”

“They’re so strong!”

Confusion appeared on the men’s faces.

They used their respective Skills to knock away or block the Fire Missiles.

Ordinarily, if one did that much, the flow of the attack would be broken.

After all, no matter how high-ranking an Awakened was, their mana had limits. But Zeon seemed to have no such limits.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

The Fire Missiles came without end.

Kim Kyung-su shouted at Yu Seung-hee.

“Fuck! Do something about him.”

“My magic isn’t working.”

Yu Seung-hee shouted back.

She had clearly cast Bind and was pressuring him, but Zeon was barely affected.

There was only one reason her magic would not work.

The other party’s grade was clearly higher than hers.

“This bastard is higher grade than me.”

“Then Grade C? Fuck!”

“Everyone, use your strongest Skill!”

“Haaah!”

Sensing danger, Kim Kyung-su’s party unleashed their Skills with all their might.

Zeon muttered with a drained expression,

“They’re brats.”

Before fighting, assessing the opponent’s strength was basic.

If the opponent’s armament was poor, one should not look down on them, but instead be even more wary.

Walking around the desert without weapons meant they were that confident in their abilities.

There was no longer any meaning in dealing with them.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

The Fire Missiles changed into Fire Rain.

The barrier Kim Kyung-su’s party had created could not withstand the hellish rain of fire and was shattered miserably.

“Kraaah!”

“Agh!”

Their screams echoed through the night sky.

＊＊＊

“Ugh!”

Yu Seung-hee opened her eyes with a groan.

But her eyes could not focus, so everything before her looked blurry.

“Fuck! Come to your senses.”

“This isn’t the time to sleep like an idiot.”

“Hurry up and wake up.”

Her companions’ urgent voices came from beside her.

‘Fuck! What are they saying?’

Yu Seung-hee grumbled inwardly, but she forced strength into her eyes. Then her vision gradually became clearer.

“Aaaah! What is that?”

The first sight that entered her restored vision was an enormous monster lumbering toward them from afar.

“Fuck! It’s an Armored Great Horn Bear.”

“Why is that thing here?”

“Aaaah! Save me.”

The men shouted in panic.

Yu Seung-hee also tried to move her body. But her body would not budge.

“What is this? Sand?”

Only then did Yu Seung-hee realize that all of them had been buried in sand, with only their heads left above the surface.

She struggled to escape the sand, but strangely, no strength entered her arms or legs.

At that moment, Zeon, sitting in the buggy, entered Yu Seung-hee’s field of vision.

Zeon was smiling as if something were amusing, watching the Armored Great Horn Bear lumber closer.

Yu Seung-hee cried out urgently.

“Please save us. We were wrong, so please save us.”

Yu Seung-hee pleaded, tears and snot streaming down her face.

Only then did Zeon turn his head and look at Yu Seung-hee.

“If you spare our lives, we’ll do anything.”

“Anything?”

“Yes! Anything.”

Yu Seung-hee nodded frantically.

In the face of a threat to her life, her reason was paralyzed, and she did not hesitate to say things she should never have said.

Zeon smiled as he looked at her.

“Then just stay like this.”

“What?”

“Armored Great Horn Bears like human flesh most of all. They can smell it from dozens of kilometers away and come looking for it. It’ll probably arrive in about five minutes.”

“Ah......”

At Zeon’s calm words, Yu Seung-hee trembled.

That was because she imagined herself being eaten alive by the Armored Great Horn Bear.

“Aaaah!”

“Fuck! Save us. We were wrong.”

“Please forgive us.”

The men screamed in panic.

There was no reason left in them anymore.

Zeon smiled and said,

“But you were going to dispose of me this way too, weren’t you?”

“That...... We were completely wrong.”

“I’m not trying to decide who was right or wrong. I’m only returning exactly what you were going to do to me.”

“We’ll give you everything we have. Take all the spoils loaded in the car too.”

“That goes without saying. Now it’s almost here.”

The Armored Great Horn Bear was now only a few hundred meters away.

Seen up close, the Armored Great Horn Bear was enormous.

It was heavily armed in armor, and just looking at it gave off tremendous pressure.

The four people buried in the sand, their freedom taken from them, felt even greater fear.

Yu Seung-hee in particular was so terrified that she wet herself in the sand.

Her face had turned deathly pale, and it was covered entirely in tears.

“Please, save me. I’ll really do anything.”

“If you just spare us, we’ll offer you our loyalty.”

“Aaaah!”

Screams and howls ran wild.

Hearing their voices, the Armored Great Horn Bear’s pace quickened.

THUD! THUD!

The heavy sound of its footsteps tightened around the four people’s hearts.

They were devoured by fear and could not think at all.

Zeon said to them,

“Then will you swear an oath to me?”

“I will.”

“I’ll do it.”

“Yes!”

“Please!”

They answered without thinking further.

Zeon took four scrolls from his chest.

They were items he had obtained long ago after subjugating a certain Dungeon.

They were called Oath Scrolls.

They were items used by Kurayan’s royal family to force loyalty from special beings.

They had been created to control those with a high risk of betrayal, such as assassins.

Once one made a contract with an Oath Scroll, betrayal could not even be dreamed of.

That was because it subordinated the soul.

It was a medium for an unfair contract, one overwhelmingly disadvantageous to the party making the oath.

Zeon said,

“Zeon is Party A, and Kim Kyung-su, Lee Jun-su, Choi Chang-sik, and Yu Seung-hee are Party B. Party B swears loyalty to Party A and must obey him. If Party B disobeys Party A’s words, their hearts will burst and they will die.”

Under normal circumstances, they would naturally refuse to make a contract using an Oath Scroll.

One of the Oath Scroll’s weaknesses was that it would never activate unless the contract was made voluntarily.

But Kim Kyung-su’s party, whose lives were hanging by a thread, had no room to think of anything else.

The Armored Great Horn Bear was now close enough for them to smell its breath.

Its bloodshot red eyes, the saliva dripping between its fangs, and the terrible stench all felt vivid.

“I swear.”

“Aaaah! The Armored Great Horn Bear is almost here. I swear.”

“Please save me. I swear.”

“Hngh! I swear.”

Zeon tore the Oath Scrolls in front of them as they screamed. Then a soft cluster of light flowed from the Oath Scrolls into their hearts.

At that instant, they felt invisible chains forming around their hearts.

No one taught them, but they instinctively realized that the moment they betrayed him, the invisible chains would squeeze their hearts until they burst.

Only then did Zeon smile and rise.

With this, the contracts were complete.

They would never be able to betray him.

ROOOOAR!

At that moment, the Armored Great Horn Bear had almost arrived.

Zeon looked at the Armored Great Horn Bear and said,

“Your usefulness ends here.”

Sand surged up around Zeon.

Dozens of enormous sand spikes pierced straight through the Armored Great Horn Bear.

THUD-THUD-THUD!

“Kraaaaagh!”

The Armored Great Horn Bear, pierced by the sand spikes, died with a scream of pain.

Seeing that, the four people’s mouths fell open.

“Fuck! What is that?”

“He moved the sand.”

“That’s impossible!”

“The Armored Great Horn Bear died that easily.”

The Awakened, now reduced to slaves, lost their words at the sight that denied common sense.