Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The Sixth Mass Extinction had completely changed the world’s climate.

Most of the land had become desert, and many living creatures had gone extinct.

With even monsters appearing, the living creatures that had barely survived were devoured as well.

In that way, most existing life forms went extinct. But there were also creatures that survived.

One of them was the Bactrian Camel.

As a creature that had originally lived in the desert, it had survived.

They had not merely survived, but evolved to become larger and stronger, turning into Grade F monsters.

Around their necks were manes, the symbol of their evolution. Each strand of the mane had strong elasticity, like wire.

Bactrian Camels fired these manes to protect themselves.

The mane’s marvelous uses were not limited to that.

It also served as a kind of radar that could detect other monsters from far away.

Thanks to this evolution, they survived even in the desert swarming with monsters.

The Scavengers crossed the desert riding Bactrian Camels.

Bactrian Camels were truly the finest means of transportation.

Dozens of Scavengers were riding Bactrian Camels toward Archelon.

There was still a great distance between them, but it would narrow quickly.

Pabilsa clicked his tongue.

“Those persistent bastards! They followed us all the way here after all. And of all groups, it had to be the infamous Black Shark Gang.”

“The Black Shark Gang?”

“They are bastards who suddenly expanded their power enormously. I heard their leader is a Grade D Awakened.”

“Grade D?”

“For an Awakened leading a band of Scavengers, that is quite a high grade. With that level of skill, he could enter Neo Seoul, but for some reason, he has remained the head of the Scavengers.”

Pabilsa’s brow was deeply furrowed.

Then Zeon and Kaylee entered.

“They are Scavengers.”

“I saw them too.”

“Should we move Archelon?”

“Even if we do, they will follow again.”

“Then should we fight?”

Kaylee asked cautiously.

“I will handle this.”

The one who answered was Deioden.

Pabilsa was not surprised.

That was because he had thought Deioden would naturally react like this.

Deioden said to Zeon,

“You take the Scavengers.”

“You mean me?”

“If you have received a treasure, you must pay the price.”

At Deioden’s words, Zeon bit his lip.

He had fought monsters several times, but this was his first time facing humans.

Naturally, he could not help hesitating.

To Zeon, Deioden sneered,

“If you are afraid, then sit out.”

“What happens if I sit out?”

“What do you think will happen?”

Madness gleamed in Deioden’s eyes as he looked at Zeon.

Zeon felt as if he knew without hearing the answer.

“I’ll fight.”

“You chose well.”

Zeon left Archelon.

Looking at Zeon walking alone toward the band of Scavengers, Pabilsa said,

“Are you truly planning to make that boy fight the Scavengers alone? It will be dangerous.”

“If he cannot overcome even that, he should die.”

“Ha! You are still as extreme as ever.”

Pabilsa shook his head.

It had been a long time since he had seen him, but nothing about Deioden had changed.

Because of his extremity, no one could stay by his side, and everyone had left.

Deioden looked at Zeon’s back with his arms crossed. He had not even taken out Crayon.

It was clear that he had no intention of intervening at all. But Pabilsa knew that this, rather, was the greatest interest Deioden could show.

Pabilsa looked at Zeon with an interested expression.

‘What kind of potential do you carry, boy?’

---

“Phew! Dogshit old man.”

Zeon cursed Deioden as he looked at the band of Scavengers rapidly approaching.

He had thought the day would come when he would have to fight humans, but he had never imagined that day would be today.

The fortunate thing was that his physical condition was fairly good, and he had the gauntlet he had received from Kaylee.
And there was also the fact that he had been promoted one step not long ago and had become a Grade E Awakened.

Since there was still some distance between them, Zeon calmly looked around.

There was something he had learned while following Deioden.

The basis of battle was first to examine the environment. Then to grasp the enemy’s strengths and weaknesses.

Once that basic information had been obtained, one had to use imagination.

Based on the information, one had to draw a picture in one’s mind of how to attack efficiently.

What mattered was the detail of that imagination.

‘My weapon is sand. This entire desert is my weapon.’

His control was still weak, so he could only move the sand around him, but even that alone could display tremendous power in the desert.

Zeon clenched his fist and looked at the band of Scavengers charging toward him at frightening speed.

Even at a rough count, there seemed to be more than forty.

Like Zeon, they covered their bodies with robes and wrapped cloth around their faces, leaving only their eyes exposed.

From the man at the head, an especially intense fighting spirit was being emitted.

He was a giant, at least a head taller than the others, and oddly enough, he was riding a camel with his arms crossed.

No weapon was visible.

Judging by his size, fighting spirit, clothing, and atmosphere, he was clearly a martial artist-type Awakened.

A martial artist who did not use weapons, at that.

That was something no one could do without considerable confidence in their own strength.

He was Gawain, the leader of the Scavenger band.

Gawain was a Grade D Awakened.

Like other martial-type Awakened, he too had gained tremendous physical ability and a Skill.

His Skill was Shockwave.

It was a Skill that generated shockwaves by striking the wall of air with his bare fists.

It was a difficult Skill to acquire, and its power was also tremendous, so there was no one among the Scavengers who could keep up with him.

As soon as Gawain awakened, he gathered desert vagrants and created a band of Scavengers.

Most of the Scavengers who followed him were powerless people who were merely vicious by nature, but among them, a few had luckily awakened abilities.

Kleing and Mashimoto, who could be called his two arms, were Awakened.

Kleing and Mashimoto were martial-type Awakened like Gawain, and each used a scimitar and a katana as his main weapon.

They were Grade E, one grade lower than Gawain.

Although their grade was low, they were evaluated as being even more brutal than Gawain.

A hideous smile appeared on Gawain’s vicious face.

“We finally caught up. Heh-heh!”

In the desert, Archelon, which the Mort Clan rode around in, was called a treasure warehouse. It was openly said that treasures were piled like mountains inside Archelon’s shell.

Because of that, Gawain had also targeted Archelon.

The giant turtle Archelon bothered him, but it was a monster with a gentle nature. It was known to have only tremendous defensive power and no particular attack Skills.

Therefore, as long as they did not provoke Archelon’s temper and only attacked the people, they had more than enough chance of winning.

Gawain raised his fist and shouted,

“Do not touch Archelon. Kill everyone else. All the treasures inside are ours.”

“Kahaha!”

“Woooo!”

The Scavengers let out cheers.

It was when they drew close to Archelon.

They saw someone in a robe blocking their path.

It was Zeon.

Gawain furrowed his brow.

“What the hell is that?”

A man blocking the way between Archelon and the Scavengers.

Judging by the atmosphere, it was clear he intended to face them.

“Arrogant bastard! Trample him.”

At Gawain’s shout, the Scavengers increased their speed even further.

In an instant, Zeon and the Scavengers drew close.

The distance between them was now ten meters.

Then Zeon took off the hood of his robe and raised his head.

Zeon’s and Gawain’s gazes met in midair.

The moment Gawain saw Zeon’s eyes, he felt an inexplicable unease. But it was too late now to stop the camel.

That was when it happened.

RUMBLE!

Suddenly, the sand in front of Zeon collapsed.

The sand flowed down like shifting sands and created a deep trench in an instant.

Using his control, Zeon had created a sand ravine in front of him.

It was only around ten meters wide and only one meter deep, but it was enough to make the Bactrian Camels that had been charging recklessly topple over.

NEIGH!

“Aaaagh!”

“Ghk!”

The camels and Scavengers screamed and crashed straight into the sand ravine.

“What the?”

“Insane!”

The camels carrying Gawain, Kleing, and Mashimoto were the first to plunge headfirst into the sand ravine. But as befitted Awakened, all three kicked off their camels’ backs in an instant and launched themselves away.

After landing on the other side of the sand ravine, they looked back.

“What is this?”

“Urgh!”

“My God!”

Every Scavenger except them had crashed into the sand ravine.

The problem was that they had fallen along with the heavy camels, suffering serious injuries such as broken arms and legs, or broken necks.

A few subordinates barely crawled out of the sand dune, but perhaps because their minds had gone blank, they only sat there and could not do anything.

Gawain shouted as he looked at Zeon.

“You cowardly bastard! You dug a sand pit in advance.”

“No need for words, Boss! A bastard like that should lose his head first.”

Mashimoto charged at Zeon with his katana leading the way.

The katana emitted red light.

Aura had been infused into it.

The katana’s cutting power rose several times over in an instant.

Mashimoto swung the katana with enough force to send Zeon’s head flying in one stroke.

SHOOO!

The katana split through space and reached Zeon’s neck at once.

If it extended just a little farther now, Zeon’s neck would be cut cleanly like a sorghum stalk. But Mashimoto’s wish did not come true.

That was because the sand in front of him suddenly surged up, forming a wall.

Because of that, he failed to cut Zeon’s neck, his target, and only struck the sand wall.

BOOM!

The sand wall struck by aura burst apart and confused his vision. So he did not see it.

He did not see that Sand Missile was mixed into the sand spreading in every direction.

SQUELCH!

Sand Missile pierced Mashimoto’s head.

Mashimoto lost his life without even screaming.

“Mashimoto!”

Enraged by his companion’s death, Kleing rushed at Zeon.

His scimitar, too, held red aura.

“Phew!”

Zeon took a deep breath.

Until now, things had gone exactly as he had pictured.

Dig a sand ravine to rob the enemies of their mobility while inflicting as much damage as possible. Then take advantage of their confusion to eliminate the leadership.

That was the picture Zeon had drawn.

Until now, it had proceeded perfectly. But if he failed to finish it well, the picture he had painstakingly drawn would be ruined.

Zeon raised his hand.

At that instant, five streams of sand rose around him like vines.

Zeon sent the streams of sand flying at Kleing.

It was Sand Blaster.

Kleing snorted.

“Hmph! I’ll cut through this much at once.”

THUDTHUDTHUD!

Every Sand Blaster burst apart under the sword he swung.

It was when Kleing tried to take that momentum and cut off Zeon’s neck as well.

“Watch below!”

Gawain’s urgent voice reached him.

Kleing looked down at his feet.

At that instant, a stream of sand condensed and shot upward like a flash of lightning.

It was Sand Missile.

It was so fast that Kleing could not even dare to dodge.

THUD!

Sand Missile pierced straight through Kleing’s lower abdomen.

“Grrgh! You cowardly......”

Kleing glared at Zeon with an aggrieved expression, then collapsed as he was. Like Mashimoto, he had lost his life.

“Aaaaah! You son of a bitch......”

Having lost his trusted men in an instant, Gawain charged forward.

Zeon looked at Gawain with cold eyes.

The finishing touch.

It was time to paint the eyes on the fully drawn dragon.