Chapter 136

Chapter 136

Ripples stirred in Serian Oliana’s eyes as she looked at the Cloud Tree necklace.

“How did this......?”

“A Scavenger had it. It seems to be an item that flowed out from the White Bear Caravan.”

“Cloud Trees grow only in the Poelin Mountain Range, even in Kurayan. The elves of the Poelin Mountain Range use this necklace as a sacred object.”

Serian searched through her memories from before she had crossed over to Earth.

A few hundred years was not a long time to an elf, but Serian had spent every moment running without even a chance to catch her breath after crossing over to Earth. Much of her memory had faded.

Because of that, she had to make a great effort to bring it back.

“When the Poelin elves interact with elves from other regions, they give this necklace as a gift.”

Serian removed the necklace hanging around her neck.

It was a necklace of the exact same shape as the one Borin had brought.

“Since ancient times, Cloud Trees have been used as a medium between elves and spirits. That is why elves who possess this necklace can easily form contracts with spirits. I was able to contract with a spirit that way as well......”

A distant look entered her eyes.

Once, she too had contracted with a spirit.

She had been so happy when she first formed the contract.

Through her contract with the spirit, she had felt complete, filled with a great sense of fulfillment. But the small, adorable spirit no longer existed by her side.

When she crossed from Kurayan to Earth, her connection with the spirit was severed.

Spirits were one of the components of that world.

Because they were part of Kurayan, they could not leave it. That was why the spirit could not cross over to Earth with Serian and remained behind in Kurayan.

The sense of loss and shock Serian felt when her connection to the spirit was forcibly severed was beyond words.

Only after suffering for ten days and nights did she barely recover in body and mind and accept reality.

She was not the only one.

Every elf who had crossed from Kurayan to Earth had their connection with their spirits forcibly severed.

Although their connection with the spirits had been cut, the Cloud Tree necklace remained a precious object to the elves.

It was a symbol of hope that, someday, they might connect with spirits again.

“Elves treasure this necklace until the day they die. When their lifespan ends and they return to nature, they pass it on to those who come after them. In that way, it continues from generation to generation.”

Elves born on Earth did not possess Cloud Tree necklaces. They could no longer obtain Cloud Trees, and no Poelin elves existed to make the necklaces.

“This must belong to an elf who crossed over from Kurayan. How did humans possibly obtain this?”

“I could not determine that much.”

“We have to find out. How they obtained it, and how many they have. If they possess more, we have to recover every last one.”

“What if the humans refuse to hand them over?”

“We must recover them anyway.”

“Even by force?”

“I told you, did I not? The Cloud Tree necklace is the point of contact between elves and spirits. If spirits are ever born on Earth as well, this necklace will play a great role then.”

“Understood. I will recover the entire quantity without fail.”

Borin answered with a hardened expression.

Serian looked at her for a moment, then took a sheet of paper from a drawer.

“Just in time, a place called the White Bear Caravan sent an invitation. If you show this, you should be able to enter easily.”

It was then.

“Wait!”

Someone opened the door and entered Serian’s room.

Serian frowned at the rude visitor.

“I know the Blue Fallen Leaf Special Operations Unit is remarkable, but we cannot entrust the fate of the elves to them.”

The visitor who had entered her residence without permission spoke without hesitation.

If anyone else had done this, they would have been thrown out immediately or punished severely. But the visitor possessed enough standing to act that way.

Black hair flowed down to her waist, and her eyes were black. Even the tight-fitting clothes she wore were entirely black.

The visitor’s name was Eli.

She was Serian’s confidante and the second-in-command of the North District.

Her alias was the Spider Queen.

It was not because she had any actual connection to spiders, but because her clothing and atmosphere resembled one.

At Eli’s appearance, Borin frowned without realizing it.

Eli’s decadent air and tone, impossible to see as belonging to a fellow elf, made her feel instinctively displeased.

Serian asked Eli,

“What do you mean? Are you saying you cannot trust the Blue Fallen Leaf Special Operations Unit?”

“I am not saying I cannot trust them. It is simply that we cannot leave such an important matter solely to them.”

“Then is Eli saying she will step forward herself?”

“That is not it. I only think it would be better to attach people who can support the Blue Fallen Leaf Special Operations Unit.”

“Is that so? Who do you think would be suitable?”

“In my opinion, it would be best to attach the Thorn Tree Attack Force.”

“Are they not too belligerent?”

Serian hesitated.

The Thorn Tree Attack Force was one of the North District’s finest elite units.

Composed of one hundred members, the Thorn Tree Attack Force consisted of one-person-army elites who fought against humans who constantly sought opportunities to prey on elves.

If an elf of the North District was harmed by humans, they were human hunters who pursued the offender to the end and took revenge.

That was why Awakened from every other district avoided the Thorn Tree Attack Force.

Eli argued,

“That is exactly why they are needed. Their belligerence and combat strength will instead suppress human provocations.”

“That makes sense.”

Serian nodded.

Borin, on the other hand, lowered her head and said nothing.

She was biting her lip hard to suppress her anger.

What Eli had just said was no different from saying she did not trust the Blue Fallen Leaf Special Operations Unit.

Eli was always like this.

For some strange reason, she kept Borin and the Blue Fallen Leaf Special Operations Unit in check.

And she did so very subtly.

Whether Serian knew her feelings or not, she settled the matter cleanly.

“Then we will arrange it so that the Blue Fallen Leaf Special Operations Unit takes the lead, and the Thorn Tree Attack Force provides support.”

“A wise choice.”

“I will obey your command.”

Eli and Borin answered at the same time.

---

SHAAAA—!

Zeon showered beneath the hot stream of water.

It was an era when water was scarce.

Once someone went out into the desert, it was difficult to find even drinking water, let alone take a shower.

The only reason he could shower like this at all was because of Neo Seoul.

A resource recovery facility existed beneath Neo Seoul.

The water and sewage used in Neo Seoul gathered at the resource recovery facility, where it was purified and supplied to the slums.

Thanks to that, even the slums could use water without suffering a shortage.

This, too, was a benefit of civilization.

After finishing his shower, Zeon wrapped a towel around his lower body and came outside.

“Brother?”

“Those scars......”

Levin and Briel, who were in the living room, were startled when they saw Zeon.

It was because they had seen the countless scars on Zeon’s body.

On the upper and lower body exposed above the towel, innumerable scars were packed densely like brands.

The most eye-catching among them was the large scar connecting his chest and abdomen. If he had suffered a wound like that, his chest bones should have shattered, his organs should have spilled out, and he should have died.

No matter how effective a potion was, healing a wound like that was impossible.

At least, according to the common sense they knew, that was how it should have been.

Yet Zeon was alive, despite having suffered such a terrible wound.

There were many other conspicuous scars as well.

The fact that one person’s body could bear so many marks was unbelievable in itself.

“Brother, your body is covered in scars......”

“It’s nothing.”

Only then did Zeon realize the two were looking at him, and he smiled awkwardly.

Briel, on the other hand, could not close her open mouth.

‘Just how did he live?’

She had never seen scars like Zeon’s on any elf or human.

Even the faintest scar would have been fatal if an ordinary person had suffered it. Yet Zeon’s body had more than dozens of such wounds.

There were so many scars that his bare skin was barely visible.

Through those scars, Briel caught a brief glimpse of Zeon’s life.

‘He fought endlessly to make it here.’

Only then did she understand why Zeon lived so listlessly.

Unless it was absolutely necessary, Zeon shut himself inside the house and did not move. In a way, it was even a dull life.

But after seeing Zeon’s scars, she understood his behavior.

He must have grown terribly weary after fighting until his body became like that.

Having returned to his hometown of Neo Seoul in that state, he must have longed desperately for rest.

A man who had burned through everything needed time to recharge before he could regain his vitality, and for Zeon, that time was now.

In contrast to the heavy air, Zeon smiled lightly and said,

“It’s nothing. Everyone lives with scars like this.”

“Who has scars like that......?”

“An ordinary person would die from just one wound like that.”

“Maybe because an old man worked me hard since I was young, my body is pretty sturdy.”

Zeon put on his clothes.

With each piece of clothing he put on, the scars were covered.

By the time he had fully dressed, no trace of any scar could be found on him.

He looked neat and clean, like someone who had lived an easy life without suffering any hardship.

If Briel and Levin had not seen it for themselves, they would never have imagined that so many scars existed beneath Zeon’s clothes.

When Briel saw Zeon pick up the invitation lying on the table, she said,

“You’re going now?”

“The auction starts soon.”

“I want to go with you.”

“Me too, Brother!”

Briel and Levin said they would follow him.

Zeon nodded.

“All right. Let’s go together.”

They were the type who would follow even if he told them not to come.

It was easier on his mind to take them from the start.

“Okay!”

“Yes!”

The two followed Zeon as though they had been waiting for it.

When they left the slums and entered the desert, it happened.

“Zeon, look over there.”

Briel suddenly pointed to the opposite side.

Where her hand indicated, countless people were moving.

It was a procession heading toward the White Bear Caravan.

Levin said,

“The West District, the East District—huh? Those are Awakened from the South District. And over there are elves, even Awakened from the North District. What the hell? Every district in Neo Seoul sent Awakened. Then everyone came except City Hall? This is insane!”

He shook his head.

Although he had lived in Neo Seoul his entire life, he had never once seen this many Awakened gathered together.

Levin felt his whole body shrink for no reason.

Although he had awakened a rare ability, he was still a young boy.

In the face of such an overwhelming sight, he could not help but be overpowered.

Briel stared blankly at the Awakened from the North District.

The North District group was composed entirely of elves.

Even she, a High Elf, had never seen so many elves before.

Briel’s gaze as she looked at the elves was complicated and subtle.

Elves who had remained in the human world and assimilated with humans.

Their atmosphere felt closer to humans than to elves.

Before she had lived in Neo Seoul, she would have scorned elves who had assimilated into the human world.

She would have criticized them, saying they had lost their identity as elves.

‘Who am I to criticize anyone? I’m no different from them.’

In a way, she was even more fallen than they were.

Even if it had been because of human threats, she had made drugs.

Countless humans had been ruined by the drugs she made and died miserably.

No matter what she did, that original sin would not disappear.

That was why, even if she escaped the covenant, she could not dare return to the High Elf village.

In the end, she was fated to spend the rest of her life here.

If she lived that way, at some point she would become similar to them as well.

‘Though to others, I probably already look the same......’

As she stared blankly at the elves, Levin spoke to her.

“What are you thinking about so hard?”

“Ah, nothing. Let’s hurry up and go.”

Briel shook her head and quickly walked ahead.

Levin watched her back for a moment, then followed after her.

Zeon also moved after them while thinking,

‘Gathering this many people in one place was also your idea, wasn’t it?’

As if answering his question, Damian stood visible on a high point of the fortress.