Chapter 223

Chapter 223

SIZZLE! SIZZLE!

The sand in the area was melting under the terrifying heat.

The melted sand flowed like lava.

“Ugh!”

“Snrrk!”

The Awakened and the Orcs recoiled in terror from the heat that resembled a hell of scorching fire.

Even after retreating dozens of meters, it felt as if their entire bodies were cooking.

Each time they breathed in, the tremendous heat cooked the mucous membranes of their noses and mouths, as well as their lungs, and all their hair and fine body hair burned away.

The terrifying heat threatened the Awakened and Orcs alike.

“Move farther back.”

“Damn it!”

“Snrrk!”

With no other choice, they had to retreat again.

The Awakened and the Orcs even forgot that they had been locked in fierce battle only moments earlier.

Right now, the only thing that mattered was escaping that terrifying heat.

Only after falling back a hundred meters were they finally able to escape the hellish heat that seemed ready to cook everything.

“Phew!”

“Hah! Hah!”

“Snrrk! The Great Chieftain?”

“We have to save the Great Chieftain......”

The Orcs belatedly came back to their senses and looked toward the heart of the scorching hell.

WHIRRR!

There, the Sand Storm still raged, filled with the heat of hell.

The difference from before was that the Sand Storm had compressed down until it was only large enough to imprison a single Orc.

Its size had shrunk to only one of several dozen parts of what it had been, but its power had increased several dozen times over.

GRIIIIIND—!

At the eerie sound of the wind, not only the Awakened, but even the Orcs shrank back and did not dare approach.

At last, the Sand Storm that seemed as if it would never end finally stopped.

The sandstorm that had raged while holding terrifying heat vanished without leaving a trace, as if it had never existed.

In the place where the Sand Storm disappeared, there was an enormous object presumed to be the Orc Great Chieftain.

Orca looked like a blackened lump of melted rock.

Even the battle-axe in his hand had melted under the terrifying heat, making its shape hard to recognize.

Zeon walked toward Orca.

Just as he drew close, it happened.

“KRAAAK!”

Orca let out a monstrous roar and swung his fist at Zeon.

Even though his eyes, skin, and even organs had melted, he was still alive.

His life force was truly terrifying.

Orca had endured, endured again, and held on until the very end.

It was to kill Zeon.

This was his final attack.

Zeon dodged Orca’s attack far too easily, then landed a blow on his chest.

THUD—!

The mana planted in the Gauntlet of Extreme Heat pierced through Orca’s thick chest and reached his heart.

His heart shattered like glass, and Orca vomited the blood he had been holding back until now.

“Kuhk!”

At last, Orca fell to his knees.

No matter how mighty a creature was, it could not live with its heart destroyed.

Orca was no exception.

He had endured even the hellish, scorching Sand Storm, but the moment his heart was destroyed, he lost all strength and dropped to his knees.

Orca barely lifted his head and looked at Zeon.

Even his eyeballs had burned away, so he could not see, but he was staring precisely at where Zeon stood.

“Krrk! Archenemy of the Orcs. You hold a power far too great for me to endure. Because of you, the Orc race will scatter like grains of sand again, but you too will be abandoned by humans. Your power is too dangerous for humans to accept.”

It was close to prophecy.

Although Orca could no longer see, he seemed to see Zeon’s future clearly.

Unlike the Orc race, which worshiped the strong without question, humans rejected those who possessed too much power.

On top of that, the power Zeon wielded was far too alien and threatening.

There was no way humans would accept someone who possessed such power.

Zeon silently looked at the dying Orca.

With his eyes lowered and his lips firmly shut, there was no way to know what Zeon was thinking.

THUD—!

At last, Orca collapsed.

His breath had completely stopped.

“Great Chieftain!”

“ROOOOAR!”

The Orcs who saw that screamed in despair.

Orca was the Great Chieftain who would fulfill the Orc race’s long-held desire. It was only natural that the Orcs grieved when such a Great Chieftain fell.

It was then.

CRAAASH—!

Another explosion rang out.

The Awakened and Orcs looked in surprise and saw the enormous Corpse Golem exploding.

The Corpse Golem created by the Orc priest had been blown apart by Jang Yong-beom.

Jang Yong-beom burst through the Corpse Golem and launched himself toward the priest.

“No!”

The priest fired Magic wildly to stop Jang Yong-beom. But Jang Yong-beom ignored every attack.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM—!

The Magic exploded right in front of Jang Yong-beom. But it failed to inflict any damage on him.

A faint light surrounded Jang Yong-beom’s body.

Giselle and Aiden recognized the light and shouted in surprise.

“Aura...... Shield.”

“Insane! Then his grade went up?”

Jang Yong-beom’s grade had been Grade A.

Even when he was Grade A, he could not use Aura Shield.

The fact that he could use Aura Shield meant Jang Yong-beom’s grade had risen.

In truth, seven lines were shining clearly on Jang Yong-beom’s right wrist.

It was proof that he had risen to Grade S.

He must have awakened to something while facing the Corpse Golem.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM—!

Jang Yong-beom, who deflected every spell, reached the priest’s nose in an instant.

Jang Yong-beom and the priest’s gazes crossed for a moment.

SQUELCH—!

The enormous claymore pierced the priest’s chest and came out through his back.

“Kuhk!”

The priest trembled from the tremendous pain.

Jang Yong-beom embraced the priest and drove the claymore even deeper.

The priest vomited blood onto Jang Yong-beom’s chest.

Still holding the priest, Jang Yong-beom said,

“I’m grateful to you. Thanks to you, I was able to break through my limit.”

The enormous wall that had blocked him all this time.

While facing the Corpse Golem, he had gained an insight that shattered the enormous wall between Grade A and Grade S.

The insight itself was small, but its ripple effect was tremendous.

That powerful wall had crumbled in an instant.

In that way, Jang Yong-beom shed the tiresome shackles of Grade A and became a Grade S Awakened.

“Hu......man!”

“So follow your Captain to hell.”

CRUNCH—!

Jang Yong-beom twisted the claymore that had pierced through the priest’s chest.

Like Orca, the priest’s heart was completely destroyed.

When Jang Yong-beom pulled out the claymore, the priest’s body collapsed as it was.

After Orca, even the priest lost his life, and the Orcs fled in every direction.

The Orcs still overwhelmingly outnumbered them. Even so, the moment they lost their center, they scattered in all directions.

It seemed revenge did not exist in their minds.

Thanks to that, the surviving Awakened were able to catch their breath.

Only a tiny number of Awakened had survived.

Zeon’s group, Jang Yong-beom’s party, and five Awakened from the other parties. That was all.

At that moment, Jang Yong-beom gave Aiden, Giselle, and the others a look.

Though he said nothing, they understood what Jang Yong-beom meant.

They ambushed the Awakened who had lowered their guard.

“Kraaak!”

“Why are you...... kuhk!”

The Awakened, caught off guard, were helplessly cut down.

Zeon frowned as he watched the scene, then said to Jang Yong-beom,

“What are you doing?”

“I’m protecting you.”

“What?”

“The fact that you’re a Sandmancer is no longer a secret. All the power holders of Neo Seoul know you’re a Sandmancer.”

“So?”

“But they don’t know you’re this strong. They’re judging your strength only within the bounds of their common sense. But what do you think they’ll do if they learn that you’re strong on a level that exceeds common sense like this?”

“......”

Zeon did not answer. But Jang Yong-beom spoke as though he had heard Zeon’s answer.

“Humans instinctively reject beings who far exceed their common sense. I feel the same, in fact.”

“So you killed them to keep my secret?”

“That’s right.”

“I’m still not grateful.”

“You don’t need to be. I didn’t do it entirely for you.”

“Looks like you have a secret you want to keep too.”

“Right! I don’t want anyone to know yet that I’ve become Grade S.”

Jang Yong-beom honestly revealed his inner thoughts.

If Neo Seoul learned that he had become Grade S, he was certain checks would come from many places.

Grade A and Grade S were different.

To lower-grade Awakened, both were unreachable beings like the sky itself, but to Neo Seoul’s power holders, the degree of threat was different.

If Grade A was a potential threat, then Grade S was a blade pressed against the uvula.

If they could not bring him to their side, they would decide it was better to kill him.

If he led a huge faction like Lee Ji-ryeong, they would not be able to touch him easily, but a force maintained by only a few people, like Jang Yong-beom’s party, could be attacked at any time.

Jang Yong-beom also needed time to prepare for the future. That was why he had attacked the Awakened with them and sealed their mouths.

In that way, Jang Yong-beom perfectly destroyed the evidence.

He felt no guilt over his actions.

Zeon did not rebuke or condemn him either.

That was because there was no reason to turn Jang Yong-beom into an enemy in the current situation.

“Everyone is exhausted, so let’s rest.”

“That’s a good idea.”

At Zeon’s words, Jang Yong-beom nodded.

They moved to a place quite far from the battlefield where Orc and Awakened corpses lay scattered.

Jang Yong-beom’s party settled some distance away from Zeon’s group.

Before long, they were laughing and talking, as if celebrating Jang Yong-beom’s rise to Grade S.

Now that Jang Yong-beom had truly become Grade S, their party’s status would rise another level as well.

Zeon understood how they felt.

Zeon withdrew his gaze from them and looked at his own group.

Eloy dropped down onto the ground.

“I really almost fucking died.”

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, aside from a few wounds.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Anyway, to think Jang Yong-beom became Grade S. If Neo Seoul finds out, there’ll be chaos. Tch! It feels like we went through hell just to help someone else.”

“It’s fine. He isn’t the only one whose grade rose.”

“What?”

“Our side’s combat power has risen too.”

“What does that mean? Wait, don’t tell me?”

Eloy widened her eyes.

At that moment, Zeon was looking at Levin.

Levin smiled shyly and showed them the Rank Insignia on his wrist. Five lines were shining clearly.

It was proof that he had become Grade B.

While fighting fiercely against the Orcs, Levin had also become Grade B before anyone realized it.

Although he was not Grade S like Jang Yong-beom, becoming Grade B was still a remarkable achievement.

Moreover, it had not been long since Levin awakened.

His promotion speed was incomparably faster than Jang Yong-beom’s.

Levin’s Awakened ability was special as well.

Ghost Transformation, along with lightning-type magic Skills.

Right now, Jang Yong-beom was stronger, but no one knew what would happen ten years later.

Eloy and Briel spoke with happy expressions.

“Congratulations on your promotion.”

“Congratulations, Levin.”

“Thank you, everyone!”

Levin smiled.

His gaze was fixed on Zeon.

Because Zeon existed, the Levin of today existed.

If Zeon had not led him, he would not have been promoted this quickly.

He confirmed it once more.

He needed Zeon.

‘No matter what happens, I’ll follow Brother to the very end.’

Even if the place Zeon was heading was hell.