Chapter 167

Chapter 167

The Awakened hurriedly got out of the vehicles and looked toward the direction where the dust cloud was rising.

“What is that?”

“Why are monsters suddenly......?”

“Was there a monster habitat around here?”

Flustered voices burst out from the Awakened here and there.

This place was three days away from the Mana Stone Mine.

Because the Mana Stone Mine periodically subjugated monsters, no large monster groups existed nearby.

Naturally, the Awakened had let down their guard to some extent.

But now, an enormous dust cloud was rising.

A small number of monsters could never raise a dust cloud like that.

It was a phenomenon that occurred only when a large group of monsters moved.

Lee Ji-ryeong shouted,

“Everyone, prepare for battle.”

“Prepare for battle!”

The Pegasus Raid Team drew their weapons and prepared to fight.

Cha Jin-cheol gave an order with a thin, bloody smile.

“It is only a monster herd. We just need to sweep them away in one breath. Everyone, move to the front.”

“Yes!”

With their answer, the Awakened of West District moved into the front line.

Levin said with a puzzled expression,

“Aren’t most Awakened from West District supposed to have replaced their bodies with machines? No matter how I look at them, they look like ordinary people.”

Just as he said, the Awakened of West District who had taken the front line did not look particularly different from other Awakened.

Mandy said to Levin,

“That is true for Awakened below Grade D. Some Awakened Grade C or higher deliberately reveal their mechanized parts as well. But they cannot operate in the desert for long.”

“Because of the sand?”

“That’s right. The sand of the desert is fatal to mechanized Awakened. That is why they mainly operate only inside Neo Seoul. That is also the limit of West District.”

“Then what about them?”

“They are all Awakened above Grade C. They covered their mechanized parts with artificial skin so they could operate in the desert.”

“Ah!”

“They are weaker than fully mechanized Awakened, but in exchange, they can operate in the desert for a long time.”

That was why the Awakened of West District participating in the Pegasus Raid Team maintained appearances no different from ordinary humans.

Even so, they were powerful.

Their advantage was that their bodies were incomparably stronger than those of ordinary Awakened.

That was why they had moved to the front line.

They were performing the role of tanks, blocking the enemy charge with their powerful bodies.

THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD!

As the monsters approached, strong vibrations could be felt beneath their feet.

Through the thickly rising dust cloud, the silhouettes of the monsters became visible.

“What is that?”

“What? Two heads?”

The Awakened standing in front were startled when they saw the monsters’ silhouettes.

RUMBLE—!

At that moment, the monsters broke through the dust and revealed themselves.

They were cattle.

Gigantic cattle with two heads and four horns.

Their bodies gleamed as if covered in iron armor, and their four legs were as large and thick as steel pillars.

After confirming the cattle’s true form, Zeon muttered,

“They are Twin-Head Buffalo.”

“That’s a buffalo? No way.”

Briel muttered with a disgusted expression.

The buffalo that had appeared had a shoulder height of over three meters. They possessed a size and tremendous mass capable of crushing an ordinary human in an instant.

The problem was that there were not only one or two Twin-Head Buffalo.

Hundreds, thousands of them were rushing toward the Pegasus Raid Team like a wave.

CRASH—!

“Kraaak!”

“Kuhk!”

Groans burst from the mouths of the West District Awakened, who had stood at the front so confidently.

It was impossible to endure the impact of hundreds of them crashing in all at once, not just one or two.

CRUNCH—!

CRACK—!

Arms and legs struck by the Twin-Head Buffalo’s horns broke away, and backs snapped.

A few Awakened seemed to endure for a moment, but they were swept away by the Twin-Head Buffalo’s charge in an instant.

This was the terror of monsters that lived in herds, like the Twin-Head Buffalo.

A small number of Awakened could never stop their charge.

If there was a method, it was only to pour bombardment on them and break their formation before they tore through the Awakened.

“Damn it! Hurry up and attack.”

“All-out attack!”

The Pegasus Raid Team and the mercenaries waiting behind the West District Awakened unleashed their Skills all at once.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM—!

Enormous attacks poured down onto the Twin-Head Buffalo herd.

ROOOAR!

MOOOOO!

The Twin-Head Buffalo collapsed in groups. But compared to the entire Twin-Head Buffalo herd, it was only an extremely small portion.

The survivors charged into the middle of the Pegasus Raid Team with terrifying momentum.

“How dare they!”

At that moment, Lee Ji-ryeong and the elites stepped forward.

CRACKLE—!

Lightning flickered all over Lee Ji-ryeong’s body.

Dozens of Twin-Head Buffalo struck by the lightning he released were burned black and collapsed.

The clearing team led by Bronson began taking down the Twin-Head Buffalo one by one. But there were unbelievably many Twin-Head Buffalo, and countless numbers still remained.

CRASH! CRASH!

Heavy vehicles were pushed back or shattered under the Twin-Head Buffalo’s mass assault.

“This won’t do.”

In the end, Levin, unable to bear it any longer, jumped into the battlefield.

Purple lightning shot toward a Twin-Head Buffalo.

MOOOOO!

With a mournful cry, the Twin-Head Buffalo collapsed. Other Twin-Head Buffalo trampled over its corpse as they passed.

Sand rose thickly, and people’s screams mingled with the cries of the Twin-Head Buffalo, making the scene resemble hell.

To protect Mandy, Eloy’s personality suddenly popped out.

“Fuck! These cattle bastards.”

She swung the Mad Nine-Tailed Fox and charged into the battlefield.

Zeon took Briel and climbed on top of a tall transport vehicle.

Unlike Mandy or Levin, Briel had almost no combat ability. But even the transport vehicle was not safe.

CRASH! CRASH!

As the Twin-Head Buffalo kept crashing into it, the vehicle was crushed and pushed backward.

Startled, Briel asked Zeon,

“Wow! This is insane. Do they usually move around in numbers this large?”

“I have seen several herds of a few hundred, but this is my first time seeing a herd of several thousand.”

Zeon watched the sight of the Twin-Head Buffalo rampaging with a frown.

The Twin-Head Buffalo was a carnivorous monster, but fundamentally, it had a docile nature.

That meant unless it was hungry, it did not attack first.

Also, when the herd grew beyond a certain size, a new leader appeared and became independent.

That was because leading any more than that was too much for the herd’s leader.

The limit was around three or four hundred.

Yet the number of Twin-Head Buffalo that had now struck the Pegasus Raid Team exceeded several thousand at a glance.

That meant at least ten herds had joined together.

By the physiology of Twin-Head Buffalo, it was something that could never happen.

‘When something impossible happens, there is always a cause.’

That was why Zeon had not yet jumped into the battlefield.

Zeon swept his sharp gaze over the surroundings.

The thickly rising sand obstructed his vision, but that meant nothing to Zeon.

The hazy sand grains rising into the air were delivering information to him.

As he swept the area, Zeon’s eyes suddenly turned toward the sky.

At that instant, living creatures wandering through the air entered his eyes.

SCREEEE!

They were making cries that human ears could never hear.

Each time they did, the Twin-Head Buffalo lost all sense of direction and rampaged.

Zeon said to Briel,

“You can stay alone, right?”

“Of course. Don’t worry about me. I can at least protect myself.”

“Then I’ll be back.”

At that instant, a sand-laden wind blew and lifted Zeon’s body.

His figure rose high into the sky in an instant, but not a single Awakened present noticed.

Zeon climbed to a height of one hundred meters in an instant. Then the creatures circling in the air became clearly visible.

Their heads resembled eagles, and their large bodies were those of lions. A pair of wings grew from their backs.

Zeon immediately recognized their identity.

“Griffins.”

Griffins were Grade B monsters.

Their grade was Grade B, but their danger level was Grade A.

Griffins were rulers of the sky comparable to wyverns.

They circled in the air, then descended like meteors, tearing apart most Awakened and even monsters in an instant.

Griffins were the natural enemies of Twin-Head Buffalo.

Only now did he understand why the Twin-Head Buffalo herds had gathered together.

The Griffins were constantly letting out threatening cries.

It was clear their cries had driven the Twin-Head Buffalo into a state of panic.

Like sheepdogs herding sheep, the Griffins had gathered the Twin-Head Buffalo herd with their cries and made them attack the Pegasus Raid Team.

SCREEEE!

The Griffins that discovered Zeon let out threatening cries.

The sky was their territory.

They never let any being who invaded their domain go unpunished.

The Griffins stopped herding the Twin-Head Buffalo and attacked Zeon.

SWISH—!

They flew in at near-supersonic speed.

In the Griffins’ eyes, Zeon, floating defenselessly, looked like easy prey. But they learned with their bodies how great a mistake that was.

“Sand Blaster.”

At Zeon’s gesture, highly compressed sand fired out.

THUD, THUD, THUD—!

Sand Blaster struck the Griffins’ heavy bodies without hesitation.

Thanks to the force fields wrapped around their bodies, they did not suffer major damage, but it was enough to startle the Griffins.

The Griffins changed direction and tried to move away from Zeon. But Zeon did not let them.

“Claymore!”

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM—!

The grains of sand floating around the Griffins exploded.

Claymore cruelly tore apart the Griffins’ force fields and wings.

SCREEEE!

A female Griffin that had lost her wings screamed and fell. Then a male Griffin chased after her to save her. But the female fell far faster than the male could fly.

CRASH—!

In the end, the female Griffin struck the ground headfirst.

If her force field had remained intact, she would have survived even after falling, but Zeon had removed it. The body of the Griffin, having lost its force field, could not withstand the impact of the fall.

The female’s body was horribly crushed. Even so, her breath had not yet been cut off.

The male Griffin descended beside the fallen female Griffin and let out a mournful cry.

Griffins took only one mate in their entire lives.

Once they formed a pair, they lived together for life. Because of that, their affection for their mates was deeper than that of any other monster.

That was why he lost his reason at his mate’s injury and descended to the ground.

That hastened the male Griffin’s death.

“Sand Blender.”

With Zeon’s voice, sand swept over the Griffins.

GRIIIIIND—!

Before the male Griffin could escape, the sand began rotating at terrifying speed.

The sand, rotating like a blender, scraped away the male Griffin’s force field.

Only then did the male Griffin flap his wings and try to escape, but it was no use.

The fine grains of sand rotating at high speed ground through the Griffin’s steel-like body in an instant.

SCREEEE!

The Griffins’ horrific cries echoed from within the sand. But the sand rotating at high speed swallowed even their screams.

It was the Griffins’ end.