Chapter 148

Chapter 148

RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE—!

Waves crashed.

The waves made of sand struck the violet supernormal space with ferocious force.

Elder Go thought that if a giant tsunami surged in, it would probably look like this.

That was how unreal the scene unfolding before his eyes was.

The sand wave rushing in like a tidal wave was unreal enough, but the sight of Zeon standing upright atop that wave of sand felt even more alien.

That was because it looked exactly as though Zeon were controlling the sand.

The sand tidal wave was surging toward Elder Go’s direction while carrying Zeon.

At that moment, Elder Go and Zeon’s gazes met in midair.

“Could he truly be controlling sand?”

“We have to dodge.”

“Hurry......”

The men of the Shadow Unit grabbed Elder Go by both arms and launched themselves into the air.

SHWAAAK!

The sand tidal wave swept through the place where Elder Go had been standing.

The violet supernormal space shook as if it would shatter at any moment.

This was a separate world, isolated from reality.

Although it was an alternate space, it was still a space that clearly existed, and therefore it had limits.

The mass of sand pouring into the supernormal space was enormous.

The mass of sand that exceeded those limits was applying tremendous pressure from within the supernormal space.

CRACK, CRACK, CRACK!

In the end, unable to withstand the pressure applied from within, the supernormal space was torn apart miserably.

“What on earth?”

Elder Go looked at Zeon with an expression of disbelief.

What Zeon was doing now was no different from smashing apart a dungeon with sheer brute force.

Of course, he had used the foreign substance called sand, but that too was still part of Zeon’s power.

“How strong must his control be for him to command that much sand?”

It was a sight Elder Go could not understand with his common sense.

More than a hundred years ago, after this world had suffered a blow close to destruction, countless Awakened had been born.

Broadly speaking, they were divided into martial type, magic type, mechanized, curse type, and so on, but there were also Awakened with special abilities that did not fall into any of those categories.

Special-ability Awakened were, in the truest sense, Irregulars.

Awakened who possessed uncommon abilities.

A representative example was Levin, who possessed the ability of Ghost Transformation.

One might think that because such abilities were special, they would naturally be extraordinary, but as long as the user was human, clear limits existed.

Elder Go was also a Grade A Barrier Mage, but there was a limit to the space he could occupy with his barrier.

The fortress where the White Bear Caravan was currently located and its surroundings were about his limit.

That alone was an ability impressive enough. That was why Jin Geum-ho had dispatched Elder Go as a precaution against unforeseen situations.

What was needed to cast a barrier around the fortress and its surroundings was mana, and the strong control required to move that mana at will.

No matter how much mana one had, if their control was weak, they could not maintain a barrier for long.

That was why Elder Go knew better than anyone how important control was.

In Elder Go’s eyes, Zeon was a monster.

“To think he can exert influence over that much sand. Just how powerful is his control?”

Naturally, Zeon did not answer.

Although their gazes had met for a moment, Elder Go was no longer an object of Zeon’s attention.

All of Zeon’s nerves were directed toward the fortress.

‘Damian!’

Something was changing in him.

Zeon could not know exactly what it was, but he could tell for certain that it was not a good change.

He had to reach Damian before then.

When he raised his control even further, more sand flowed in from outside. The sand combined and increased in mass, and its destructive power increased in proportion to that added mass.

The increased destructive power shattered the supernormal space like glass.

CRAAAACK—!

As the violet supernormal space was destroyed, the environment changed.

From ominous violet light to a landscape filled with red sand.

He had returned from unreality to reality.

Even so, Zeon did not stop.

RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE—!

He drove the sand forward and climbed straight toward the top of the fortress.

Seeing that, Elder Go hurriedly chased after Zeon.

“Huh?”

“Elder!”

The men of the Shadow Unit tried to follow Elder Go, but by then, he had already cast a barrier and hidden himself.

“Damn it!”

“Approach the fortress.”

The Shadow Unit men, having lost Elder Go, also approached the fortress.

---

Like a reed, Broy was swaying precariously.

“Ghhhhh!”

A groan filled with pain squeezed through his lips.

A black tentacle was wrapped around Broy’s neck.

Because of that, Broy’s legs were hanging in the air, flailing helplessly.

It was not only Broy.

Dozens of dwarf, elf, and other beastfolk warriors were bound by tentacles, swaying dangerously.

“Kuh!”

“S-save......”

“Ugh!”

At their groans, Serian bit her lip hard.

The elites of North District, whom she had trusted and relied on, had all been subdued by Damian.

‘If I had known this would happen, I would have moved myself.’

It was already too late for regret.

They truly had been subdued in the blink of an eye.

Even Broy, in whom she had placed deep trust, had failed to inflict any meaningful wound on Damian and had instead become a prisoner.

Damian shook the nonhuman races wrapped in tentacles as though they were spoils of war. At that, they let out another round of agonized groans.

Some were already on the verge of death.

If there was even a slight delay, their lives would be in danger.

Serian shouted urgently,

“Stop.”

“Who says I have to......?”

“If you kill them, you won’t get out of this unharmed either.”

“Don’t pretend to worry about me. It’s disgusting.”

“Calm down.”

“I think you’re the one who needs to calm down.”

Damian giggled.

The polite tone he had used before was nowhere to be found.

His speech was savage and rough. It was not the usual Damian.

It was the influence of the Prism Armor he was wearing.

More precisely, it was because of the Spirit King’s Crown, which was sending power to the Prism Armor.

Prism Armor was merely a medium.

The true body was the Spirit King’s Crown.

The power sent by the Spirit King’s Crown was sorted and amplified through Prism Armor, and that was Spectrum Prison.

The more of the Spirit King’s Crown’s power one used, the more the wearer of Prism Armor became subordinate to it.

That was Damian’s current state.

He was already half-subordinated to the Spirit King’s Prism.

And yet there was only one reason he still clung to his reason so tenaciously.

“Now tell me Elharun’s location.”

“I cannot......”

CRUNCH!

Before Serian could finish speaking, Damian broke the neck of one beastfolk hanging from a tentacle.

At the sight of the beastfolk dying without even being able to scream, Serian’s eyes trembled.

“Every time your answer is late, one dies.”

“Please calm......”

At that moment, Damian cut off someone’s breath again.

This time, it was an elf.

At the elf’s death, Serian could no longer continue speaking.

Damian sneered at her.

“You still won’t speak? Then this time, I’ll kill this one.”

He shook Broy, who was hanging from a tentacle.

“Kuh! I’m fine, so please, never tell him.”

At that instant, the black tentacle tightened around his neck with tremendous force.

Broy’s face turned deathly pale.

At the sight of him, Serian bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.

Broy was an important figure.

If she lost him here, North District’s power would be greatly weakened.

If that happened, the balance of power in the struggles against the other districts would tilt sharply.

CRACK!

At that moment, the sound of bones about to break came from Broy’s neck.

If even a little more force was applied in that state, Broy’s neck would snap like a reed.

Serian closed her eyes and said,

“Magadan.”

“Hm?”

“Elharun is located in what used to be the sea in front of Magadan, one of the cities of old Russia.”

“Magadan, is it? How do you enter?”

“I don’t know either. I’ve never been there even once.”

“Can you swear on the honor of the elves that you’re telling the truth?”

“I swear on my honor.”

Serian opened her eyes and answered.

There was a look of resignation in them.

A smile appeared at the corner of Damian’s mouth.

Once an elf swore on their honor, they could never speak a lie.

That meant Serian’s words were the truth.

“I finally found it. Finally...... Hehe!”

Damian laughed.

He had lived for the past eight years for this moment.

Burning everything he had.

Damian’s gaze turned toward the empty air behind Serian.

“You heard that, right? Brother!”

“I heard.”

Zeon stood where his gaze was directed.

Standing atop a giant pillar of sand.

“I kept my promise to find out Elharun’s location.”

“Yes! In the end, you kept your promise.”

“I’m glad.”

Damian smiled brightly. But his smile was hidden by the helmet that was consuming his face.

Prism Armor was taking root in Damian’s body and seizing control.

It was the process of human and armor becoming one.

Damian knew very well what that meant.

His ego was already slowly declining.

Something was taking control of his mind.

Damian’s gaze turned toward Alexandro.

Alexandro was already drenched in blood.

Eli, called the Spider Queen, was strong. The fact that Alexandro had held out against her until now could be called a miracle in itself.

Squeezing out the last of his strength, Damian said to Alexandro,

“Go.”

“Damian!”

“I’ve achieved everything I wanted. So go. Don’t look back. Run and join up with Jack.”

“......”

“We promised, didn’t we? So do as we promised.”

“Under......stood.”

Alexandro answered with difficulty and thrust out his fist.

BOOM—!

At the strike filled with powerful force, Eli was pushed backward.

Alexandro did not miss that opening and retreated.

“All survivors, retreat.”

At his shout, the Awakened of the White Bear Caravan gathered.

Alexandro’s face was filled with a complicated look as he gazed at them.

Because only a tiny fraction had survived.

They had come prepared for death, but when he actually confirmed how few survivors remained, he could not help feeling as though his heart were collapsing.

He forcefully hid his miserable feelings and said,

“Let’s go.”

“Yes!”

The survivors looked at Damian for a moment.

Damian looked at them as well.

Even without any words, they understood each other’s hearts all too well.

Alexandro and the survivors launched their escape.

Serian saw all of it happen, yet she could not stop them.

That was because all of her attention was focused on Damian. More precisely, on Broy and the Awakened of North District whom he had taken hostage.

“You’ve achieved your goal, so release them now.”

“Hehe!”

“Surely...... you don’t intend to break your promise?”

“I keep my promises. They’ll all die anyway.”

“What?”

At that moment, Damian released everyone he had been holding with the tentacles.

Broy and the Awakened of North District collapsed to the ground and gasped for breath.

BOOOOM—!

The warehouse where the Spirit King’s Crown had been stored exploded, and ominous black light burst out.

Serian and Eli unconsciously closed their eyes against the black light that stabbed at their pupils, but Zeon instead opened his eyes wide and stared straight at it.

The source of the black light was the Spirit King’s Crown.

It was a phenomenon caused by something sealed within the Spirit King’s Crown awakening.

The black light shining on Damian grew even denser.

Something was entering Damian’s body along the black light that had begun from the Spirit King’s Crown.

CRACK! CRACK, CRACK!

Damian’s body twisted this way and that, changing shape.

His frame grew to over five meters tall, and Prism Armor overlaid it like skin.

His reddened eyes were filled with hostility, and his protruding mouth, like a beastfolk’s, was filled with flames.

The two horns on his head declared that Damian was no longer human.

Through Damian’s body, the being that had been sealed within the Spirit King’s Crown emerged into the world.

Confirming its form, Serian muttered,

“Bal......rog!”

GRAAAAAAR!

As if answering her words, the Balrog’s roar echoed across the desert.