Chapter 129

Chapter 129

“Haa!”

Mandy let out a sigh.

She had received this kind of gaze far too many times, so she knew exactly what it meant.

As befitted a half-elf, Mandy possessed outstanding beauty.

Naturally, countless men had coveted her and approached her.

Just like the man before her now.

The man in heavy armor was a Paladin.

It did not mean he had truly awakened as a Paladin; rather, his rank in Dongdaemun was that of a Paladin.

Among Dongdaemun’s Awakened, Johan had gathered those with especially strong loyalty and formed a single unit.

They were the Paladin Order that protected the Church.

The heavy armor the man wore now was the symbol of the Paladin Order.

The man’s name was Patrick.

He was a member of the Paladin Order that followed Johan.

From the first moment Patrick saw Mandy, he felt his heart begin to race.

He had been drawn to the unique beauty that was difficult to find in Dongdaemun.

“I need to question you, so come with me.”

“Where are you telling me to follow you?”

“There is an office of the Paladin Order nearby. I will question you there.”

“I refuse.”

Mandy answered firmly.

Patrick’s face twisted.

“Are you saying you dare defy the Church?”

“I do not believe in your Church. I am not from Dongdaemun either. I have no reason to obey your orders.”

“In Dongdaemun, the Church is the law. Since you entered Dongdaemun, you must obey the Church’s command.”

“That is absurd. No matter how much the Church rules Dongdaemun, you cannot force people from other districts to obey.”

“Silence, woman!”

When he was pushed back in logic, Patrick shouted.

Mandy’s expression, on the other hand, turned even colder.

“You are the one being loud.”

“You woman......”

Mandy took an identification card from her pocket and said,

“My name is Mandy Sistain. I am a Supervisor of Neo Seoul. I belong to City Hall.”

“......”

At Mandy’s unexpected answer, Patrick’s lips pressed tightly shut.

The corners of his eyes trembled.

‘Fuck!’

If her identity truly was that of a Supervisor affiliated with City Hall, she was not someone he could treat recklessly.

He stared hard at the identification card.

It was genuine, issued by City Hall.

An identification card processed with special magic could never be forged.

Mandy said confidently,

“Why am I suspicious?”

“What business does a Supervisor from City Hall have here?”

“Answer my question first.”

“It seems I was mistaken.”

“Then I do not have to go to your office, do I?”

“Your suspicion has not been completely cleared yet. The people beside you must identify themselves as well.”

Patrick glared at Zeon and Briel.

He was trying to cling to them somehow.

Zeon sighed and said,

“My name is Zeon.”

“Zeon? Don’t tell me, from Sinchon?”

“Yes! I came from Sinchon.”

Since it was not something he could hide anyway, Zeon openly revealed his identity.

Patrick’s reaction was dramatic.

“Zeon of Sinchon! Did you come to target Dongdaemun?”

He drew the sword at his waist and shouted.

Dongdaemun had been watching Zeon’s movements closely.

Although Zeon had never taken any threatening action, they had classified him as a dangerous figure for the sole reason that he was the hidden ruler behind Sinchon.

Naturally, the Paladin Order was wary of Zeon.

Zeon sighed.

“Haa! Do I look like someone who came here to target Dongdaemun? I simply ended up here while walking.”

“Are you telling me to believe that?”

“Supervisor Mandy here will vouch for what I said.”

Zeon pointed to Mandy beside him.

“I ended up here while talking with him. There will be no such incident as the Paladin fears.”

“Ha! Fuck.”

Patrick cursed without realizing it.

Mandy’s eyes sharpened.

“What did you say?”

“I was merely talking to myself.”

“They call you a Paladin, but you are no different from a back-alley thug.”

“What did you say just now?”

“I was merely talking to myself.”

“How dare you!”

At that instant, Patrick’s anger exploded.

He lost his reason and swung his sword at Mandy.

Mandy’s eyes widened, not having expected him to swing his sword without warning.

Just as Eloy’s personality was about to emerge, Zeon stepped in front of her.

CLANG!

He blocked Patrick’s sword with the Gauntlet of Scorching Heat.

“Ugh!”

The powerful recoil sent Patrick’s sword bouncing backward.

Patrick lost his balance and stumbled back.

Because of his heavy armor, loud thuds rang out around them, and people’s gazes naturally gathered.

“What is going on?”

“Huh? A Paladin is fighting.”

As people began murmuring, the Paladins in the distance heard the commotion and rushed over.

“What is happening there?”

“How dare someone touch a Paladin in Dongdaemun?”

The Paladins did not consider the circumstances at all and became enraged at the sight of Patrick staggering.

“Please wait a moment.”

Mandy stepped forward and tried to speak with them. But the Paladins had no intention of talking.

“Shut up, woman.”

“Subdue them!”

SWISH!

Their swords flew toward Mandy and Zeon.

A milky-white aura gathered around the Paladins’ blades.

“You fanatic bastards! Enough already!”

At that instant, Eloy’s personality emerged.

A spear was already in her hand.

It was a weapon of tremendous power with the function of being automatically summoned to its owner.

The nine-pronged spearhead resembled a nine-tailed fox with nine tails.

That was why the spear’s name was also the Mad Nine-Tailed Fox.

No one could stop Eloy when she held the Mad Nine-Tailed Fox.

Already furious to the tips of her hair, she swung the Mad Nine-Tailed Fox at the Paladins.

BOOM! BOOM!

“Guh!”

“This crazy bitch......”

The Paladins screamed at the terrifying power of the Mad Nine-Tailed Fox.

Eloy ran wild as befitted the owner of the Mad Nine-Tailed Fox.

Each time she swung the spear, the Paladins were swept away.

The commotion gradually grew, and more Paladins came running.

Seeing that, Briel muttered,

“We’re fucked.”

“Briel!”

“I’m right! Because of that crazy half-elf bitch, she has drawn all the attention. Every Paladin in Dongdaemun will come rushing here. Forget finding the Scavengers’ lair. If things go wrong, we’ll end up at war with Dongdaemun.”

“That is not necessarily true.”

“What do you mean?”

“Since Eloy has drawn their attention properly, we are free now.”

At Zeon’s answer, Briel smiled brightly.

“Ah! You’re right.”

“She is a Supervisor affiliated with City Hall. No matter how much power Dongdaemun has, they cannot kill her carelessly.”

If they killed Eloy recklessly, they would give City Hall a pretext to intervene in Dongdaemun.

No matter how much of a burden Johan could endure, such a situation would still weigh on him.

So they might injure her, but they could not kill her.

To subdue the rampaging Eloy, they would need many Paladins and a great deal of time.

Meanwhile, Zeon and Briel could move freely through Dongdaemun and gather information.

Zeon and Briel quietly slipped away, leaving Eloy to rampage.

Because everyone’s attention was focused on Eloy, no one paid attention to them.

Thanks to that, the two who had gained their freedom were able to move away easily from the place where Eloy was causing a commotion.

“Even that crazy half-elf has her uses. Hoho!”

Briel laughed with satisfaction.

Zeon asked her,

“She is an elf like you. Are you not worried?”

“After seeing her fight, I do not think I need to worry.”

“That is true......”

“To pity or help an elven warrior is an insult to them. Though she is only half, she is still a proud warrior. Helping her would not be proper courtesy toward her.”

“I see.”

Having come to understand the elven way of thinking a little, Zeon nodded.

Although the two elves snapped at each other and got on each other’s nerves when they talked, in truth, they acknowledged each other in their hearts.

Zeon thought they were not being honest as he moved on.

Thanks to Eloy drawing all the attention properly, the streets had become quiet.

Not only the Paladins but even the people had flocked toward the place where Eloy was fighting.

Thanks to that, Zeon and Briel could inspect every corner of Dongdaemun freely without worrying about other people’s eyes.

“Huh?”

Suddenly, Briel let out a cry of surprise, as if she had seen something.

“What is it?”

“Look here.”

Briel pointed at a nearby alley.

“Why?”

“Does this place not seem strange?”

“What about it?”

Instead of answering, Briel walked into the alley.

Zeon quietly followed after her.

When they reached the dead end of the alley, Briel muttered,

“Hidden truth, reveal yourself.”

Light radiated from both of her palms, and the scenery inside the alley changed.

The wall vanished, and a small door appeared in its place.

“Was it perception disruption magic?”

“That’s right! It is so precise that even elves with sharp senses would not be able to feel it. But it cannot deceive this high elf. Ahem!”

Briel looked up at Zeon with an expression that demanded praise.

Zeon smirked and stroked her conical hat.

“Well done.”

“Hehe!”

“In any case, high-level perception disruption magic in Dongdaemun.”

“Suspicious, right?”

“Very suspicious.”

“You are going in, right?”

“Let’s go in.”

“Yes!”

Briel grabbed the doorknob.

Naturally, the door was locked from the inside. But Briel solved that easily.

“Unlock!”

She undid the lock with magic.

Her main specialty was alchemy, but casting simple magic of this level was nothing to her.

CLICK!

They opened the door and went inside.

The interior was pitch dark.

The passage, with not a single ray of light entering, stretched deep underground.

Briel took the lead without fear.

She was not walking ahead recklessly without any plan.

“Cover-up Detection.”

Briel cast a spell to check whether there were hidden traps.

Hidden traps began revealing themselves one after another under her detection magic.

Once revealed, the traps were no great threat.

Thanks to that, Zeon and Briel were able to pass through the traps easily.

After they had passed several traps, it happened.

SWOOSH!

Something flew out of the darkness at terrifying speed and covered the two of them.

“Eek! What is this?”

Briel cried out in surprise.

By then, a thin membrane-like object had already covered Briel and Zeon.

Briel tried to escape in alarm, but the thin membrane tightened around her and Zeon instead.

“Ugh!”

Briel’s face turned deathly pale under the tremendous pressure crushing her entire body.

Zeon said,

“It seems to be the net the Scavengers use. The more you move, the tighter it will become.”

“Damn it! What kind of thing is this......”

At that moment, someone walked out of the darkness.

“Who are you? How did you get in?”

It was a man carrying a bow and arrows made of special alloy on his back and a jungle machete at his waist.

In his hand, he held a short baton that generated high-voltage electricity.

Zeon frowned.

As the man approached, he smelled an overpowering stench of blood.

The smell of blood that strongly stimulated his sense of smell was not the kind that could cling to someone after killing only one or two people.

“It seems you just killed someone.”

“You’ve got a sharp sense, bastard. How about it? Do you want to become part of my collection too? Your ears look pretty.”

The man slightly lifted his waist. Countless ears could be seen hanging from his belt.

“My nickname is the Ear Collector. Hehehe!”

The man bared his yellow teeth and laughed.