Chapter 239

Chapter 239

GROOOOAN—!

A strange roar echoed through NSSC headquarters.

“What is it?”

The Awakened guarding NSSC headquarters looked puzzled.

At that instant, the face of the Awakened in charge of the barrier turned deathly pale.

“Someone is dispelling the barrier from outside.”

“What?”

“That’s possible?”

The Awakened glared at the main gate with bewildered expressions.

Forcibly dispelling a barrier was never easy. Dispelling a barrier as powerful as the one around NSSC headquarters was even harder.

“To break in at this exact time. Did they aim for this?”

Most of their combat force had deployed because of the terrorist attack.

There were only about ten Awakened left inside NSSC.

CRASH—!

At that moment, the barrier spread over NSSC shattered with an explosion.

“Krrgh!”

The Awakened in charge of the barrier took a heavy shock and collapsed.

At that instant, Awakened from the Pegasus Raid Team poured in through the main gate.

“You think you’ll get away with this?”

“Fuck!”

The NSSC Awakened bravely fought the intruders.

They unleashed their trump-card Skills and tried somehow to stop the invaders. But they were helplessly swept away by the tremendous number of Awakened surging in like a tidal wave.

“Kraaak!”

“S-save me!”

Their desperate screams were quickly buried and vanished.

After wiping out the NSSC Awakened in an instant, the Pegasus Raid Team’s Awakened headed underground.

Bronson shouted,

“Thirty minutes. The clearing team and the rescue team will kill Zeon, and the exploration team will erase every piece of evidence.”

“Yes, sir!”

The Pegasus Raid Team moved in perfect order.

Killing Zeon was important, but above all else, they had to leave no evidence.

If City Hall learned that the Pegasus Raid Team had attacked NSSC headquarters, retaliation would surely follow.

They had to erase the evidence thoroughly and block any room for City Hall to intervene.

The exploration team was made up of people accustomed to finding traces.

Being able to find faint traces meant, conversely, being able to erase them without leaving even the smallest trace behind.

The exploration team began erasing traces, while Bronson led the clearing team and rescue team underground.

A long stretch of white walls with a metallic texture continued onward.

There was not a speck of dust visible, let alone sand.

It was a sight befitting the nickname Cleanroom.

They had only entered the entrance, yet their mana hardened and refused to move. The entire wall was covered in spellwork that controlled mana.

Of course, they had prepared for that as well.

“Everyone, activate your mana-control bracelets.”

A simple-looking bracelet was fastened around each intruder’s wrist.

It was a device that prevented external barriers or spellwork from interfering with the wearer’s mana.

As long as they wore this bracelet, they could use their abilities freely even inside the Cleanroom.

The Awakened reached the deepest part of the NSSC prison in an instant.

The air was cold.

A heavy energy spread through the entire corridor, as if it would choke them.

The final room at the end of the corridor entered the Awakened’s sight.

“That’s the place.”

“Destroy the door.”

CRASH—!

The door burst apart with an explosion.

The Awakened poured into the room.

At that instant, bewilderment appeared on their faces.

“They’re gone?”

“What the hell? Why is it empty?”

The cell with the broken door was completely empty.

The Awakened were thrown into confusion by the sight, which was entirely different from what they had expected.

“What’s going on?”

Bronson, who had followed leisurely from behind, pushed through the Awakened and entered the cell.

After checking the inside of the cell, his face changed in much the same way as the other Awakened.

“Where is Zeon? Why can’t I see him?”

“That’s......”

The Awakened could not answer.

It was then.

CREEEAK—!

The sound of a door opening came from the corridor.

Everyone’s gazes naturally turned toward the entrance of the corridor. It was the place they had already passed.

The door of the first cell in the corridor opened, and two people stepped outside.

They were Zeon and Eloy.

Bronson frowned.

“What the hell? Why are you coming out from there? Did NSSC move your cell?”

“We thought it would be easier to deal with you from this side, so we moved ourselves on our own.”

“Fuck! You think a prisoner can do that? When you can’t even use mana......”

“I wandered around alone here and there, so I picked up a lot of little tricks. Opening a door like this is nothing.”

At Zeon’s answer, Bronson’s face crumpled even more.

“Moving rooms as you please changes nothing. Today, you die. Here......”

“Why wouldn’t it change anything? If we’d stayed in the last room, you would have us surrounded. But if we’re in this room, then we have you surrounded.”

“Surrounded?”

“Change your perspective. Are you surrounding us, or are we surrounding you? I think it’s the latter.”

“You’re nothing but a halfwit who can’t even use mana. What do you think you can do? Kill him.”

At Bronson’s order, the Awakened attacked Zeon and Eloy.

“Kill them!”

“Waaaah!”

The Awakened charged at Zeon and Eloy with monstrous cries.

As Zeon moved toward them, he murmured,

“They don’t know the basics. In the end, the one who takes the advantageous position controls the battle.”

Just because they had awakened did not mean all Awakened were the same.

Those who truly knew how to fight identified and occupied advantageous ground first.

The NSSC prison had a structure where cells existed on both the left and right sides of a long corridor.

The corridor was narrow and long.

If two or three grown men walked shoulder to shoulder, it would be packed tight.

Even if hundreds came in a mob, in the end, they only had to deal with the two or three people in the front row.

If they had remained in the final room, they would have been driven back by enemies who kept pushing in. But at the entrance like this, they could instead press the enemies forward.

That was why Zeon had picked the lock and moved rooms right after Lee Ji-ryeong left.

They would never know what a dumbfounded expression Eloy had made when Zeon opened the door.

“Sons of bitches! Let’s have some fun.”

Eloy threw herself at the Awakened with bare fists.

She could not use mana, but Eloy did not hesitate to hurl herself forward.

The space was limited, and the Skills that could be used were limited as well.

Magic-type Awakened could not attack easily because their comrades might be caught up in it.

In the end, the martial-type Awakened had to stand at the front.

Even without weapons or mana, Eloy was strong.

Because she had been born of mixed blood between an elf and a human, she had trained her body several times harder than others.

Her entire body was a weapon.

CRUNCH—!

“Kuhk!”

Eloy’s elbow shattered the nose bone of the Awakened charging at the front.

The Awakened collapsed with a groan.

He had allowed an unexpected blow because he underestimated Eloy just because she could not use mana.

Eloy snatched the falling Awakened’s wrist and twisted it.

CRACK—!

“Aaaagh!”

With an eerie cracking sound, the Awakened’s forearm broke.

Removing the mana-control bracelet from the dangling forearm was nothing.

CLICK—!

“Nice!”

A satisfied smile appeared on Eloy’s lips.

The mana that had been frozen like a stone finally circulated properly through her whole body.

The power that had been sealed returned.

There was nothing holding her back anymore.

“Haaah!”

Eloy let out a monstrous cry and attacked the Awakened.

CRUNCH—!

THUD—!

Violent cracking sounds rang out.

Martial-type Awakened sprayed blood and collapsed under her powerful punches. That did not mean she was unharmed.

CRASH—! THUD—!

Countless fists and Skills struck her entire body. Even so, she did not collapse and endured.

Eloy was tough as nails.

She could laugh off most pain and endure it.

Her will had grown even stronger as she crossed the desert with Zeon.

She dodged cold weapons like swords and spears, and accepted punches that lacked real force. In exchange, she steadily returned attacks to the enemy.

“Krrgh!”

“Fuck! Don’t get pushed back. There are only two of them.”

“Push them!”

Hundreds of Awakened grew furious, but the corridor was narrow, and only two or three people could attack at once.

Those who attacked like that collapsed like dominoes under Eloy’s attacks. But Eloy could not bring all of them down alone.

A succession of Awakened broke through Eloy’s line of defense and approached Zeon.

“Son of a bitch!”

“We just need to kill you.”

“Haaah!”

They rushed at Zeon like starving ghouls.

CRASH—!

The Awakened at the front flew away without even screaming.

Zeon’s right fist had struck him in the abdomen.

Even without using mana, Zeon was strong.

His body, trained by Deioden, surpassed most martial-type Awakened even without mana.

Blood sprayed and flesh tore in the battle between Zeon and the Awakened.

People collapsed one after another with ruptured muscles and broken bones.

It was a raw fight he had not experienced in a long time.

Zeon deliberately did not take the mana-control bracelets from the fallen Awakened.

It did not matter.

Like a man mad for battle, Zeon faced the Awakened attacking him with pure martial arts alone.

“Aaagh!”

“Son of a bitch! Please just die.”

Zeon grabbed an Awakened who rushed at him while screaming at the top of his lungs by the collar and slammed him into the floor.

CRASH—!

With an explosion, the Awakened was driven headfirst into the floor.

His two legs trembled briefly, then went still.

His breath had stopped.

Zeon’s martial arts were terrifyingly efficient.

He had brought down dozens of Awakened, but his breathing had not even grown rough.

BOOM—!

A large fireball struck Zeon’s entire body.

“Kraaak!”

“Urgh!”

The martial-type Awakened who had been attacking Zeon were engulfed in flames and screamed. They had been caught in the attack of the Magic-type Awakened targeting Zeon.

The flames clinging to the martial-type Awakened’s bodies did not go out and blazed fiercely.

The burning Awakened rolled across the floor and screamed. In contrast, Zeon, who had taken the direct hit, was perfectly fine.

“How?”

The Awakened who had launched the fireball gaped.

That was because not a single scorched mark could be seen anywhere on Zeon’s body.

“He shouldn’t be able to use mana......”

“Who said I can’t use mana?”

“No, because you’re wearing the mana restraint......”

The Awakened answered without realizing it.

Zeon shook the mana restraint he wore over the Gauntlet of Extreme Heat and smiled.

“Ah, you thought that because of this.”

Since they had put a mana restraint on him, perhaps it was only natural that they thought he could not use mana.

CRUMBLE—!

At that instant, the mana restraint binding Zeon broke apart into dust.

The core material of the mana restraint was dragon bone.

It was impossible to control the Gauntlet of Extreme Heat, embedded with a dragon’s eye, using only a trace amount of dragon bone.

Bronson, who saw Zeon from afar, was furious.

“You deceived us.”

“Yes. So?”

“You cowardly......”

Zeon smiled faintly.

In battle, being called cowardly was the highest praise.