Chapter 245

Chapter 245

Lee Ji-ryeong was a Grade S Awakened.

And he was an absolute powerhouse who used lightning-type Magic, the most destructive kind of all.

That was why Johan had willingly joined hands with Lee Ji-ryeong.

Lee Ji-ryeong would expand his foothold in Neo Seoul, and Johan would support him. They had even made an agreement that once Lee Ji-ryeong secured territory in Neo Seoul, Johan would be allowed to preach there.

Johan had no doubt that Lee Ji-ryeong would succeed. That was why he had willingly taken part in plundering the top-grade Mana Stone.

He had judged that as long as Lee Ji-ryeong remained alive and well, there would be no major problem for Dongdaemun.

But the Lee Ji-ryeong he had trusted so much had lost his life to Zeon.

Just as his head was spinning from the unexpected situation, it happened.

“It’s him.”

“Seize the man who has shown disrespect to Lord Johan.”

Paladins rushed in from the back door.

They swung their swords with all their might at the middle-aged man confronting Johan.

The situation was so unexpected that Johan did not have time to stop them.

At that instant, the smile on the middle-aged man’s lips deepened.

“Oh? There were still some friends standing.”

THUD—!

At that instant, the bodies of the Paladins attacking the middle-aged man sank down as if struck by an enormous invisible hammer.

“Krrgh!”

“Kuhuk!”

The Paladins’ faces twisted.

That was because tremendous pressure and weight were crushing their bodies.

Crrrreak!

Even when they strained to endure it, it was no use. Their backs bent, and their heads sank.

Tens, even hundreds, of tons of pressure were concentrated on them.

Even deploying Holy Shield, the defensive Skill of the Paladins, was useless.

Just as an ant, no matter how hard its shell, would burst when pressed by a person’s finger, they could not resist pressure and force that had exceeded their limits.

Crack, crack!

The sound of bones breaking flowed from the Paladins’ bodies.

Veins bulged all over them like earthworms.

If even a little more pressure were applied, their bodies would burst like balloons.

Johan, who had remained silent until then, opened his mouth.

“So you were Grain, the Gravity Mage.”

“Correct.”

The middle-aged man, Grain, answered with a smile.

Grain.

The second-in-command of the execution unit, and a Grade S Awakened who freely controlled gravity.

His military power was by no means inferior to the rulers of each district.

Even if Lee Ji-ryeong had still been alive, Grain was a monster against whom he could not guarantee victory.

That did not mean Johan was afraid of Grain. Johan also possessed an ability that could match his.

But if he fought Grain head-on, he would make Jin Geum-ho his enemy.

The man who was Neo Seoul itself.

After turning the matter over in his head, Johan spoke with difficulty.

“Stop.”

“Yes?”

“I will withdraw from Shinchon.”

“That’s only natural.”

“I will also take my hands off the Dokkaebi Market.”

“That’s good. And?”

“I will send an object equivalent to the value of the top-grade Mana Stone as an apology.”

“I like that.”

Crrrreak!

The gravity pressing down on the Paladins still had not disappeared.

That meant he had still not satisfied what Grain wanted.

Johan gritted his teeth.

“For the time being, I will limit the Paladins’ activity range to Dongdaemun.”

“Wow!”

Only then did Grain release the gravity he had been applying to the Paladins and clap his hands. At last, he had obtained a satisfactory answer.

“Kuhuh!”

“Hurk!”

Freed from the gravity, the Paladins gasped for breath.

Grain toyed with the cane set with a blue jewel and said,

“Then I’ll withdraw while trusting that you’ll keep your promise. Let’s meet again later in a better place.”

Leaving Johan grinding his teeth behind, Grain went outside.

Paladins lay collapsed all along the passage leading outside.

All of them had fallen to his gravity.

Not a single one of those fallen was dead. That was because Grain had delicately controlled the gravity.

If he wanted, Grain could concentrate tens of tons of gravity into a space the size of a coin.

Ordinary Paladins could never endure his attack.

When he stepped outside the sanctuary, an armored vehicle was waiting for him.

In front of the armored vehicle stood a young woman dressed in uniform.

The woman looked at her wristwatch and said,

“You’re about two minutes later than expected.”

“Ah! My conversation with Johan ran a little long.”

“Did the conversation end well?”

“He understood what was being said, so it ended well.”

“That’s a relief.”

“I think so too. If he hadn’t understood me to the end, I would’ve had to collapse this huge Church. Do you know how hard that would be?”

“Don’t lie. You could do it as easily as breathing.”

“Hey! You say that so easily because it isn’t your job.”

When Grain raised his voice, the woman frowned and said,

“That’s enough. The next mission is waiting.”

“Already? That’s not right.”

“What isn’t right?”

“Where do they give missions this quickly? Usually, when someone is deployed for one mission, they’re given enough rest.”

“It wasn’t even difficult enough to require rest.”

“Leona! Aren’t you being too harsh just because it isn’t your work?”

The woman Grain called Leona was his secretary.

She helped with everything, including his schedule, missions, support, and daily life.

Without Leona, Grain’s daily life itself would become impossible.

“Stop complaining and get in the armored vehicle. We have to move quickly.”

“Hey!”

“What?”

“Still, this isn’t right.”

“What isn’t right? Get in the vehicle.”

“You’re not a secretary, you’re a mother-in-law.”

“If you feel wronged, fire me.”

“Tch! If you weren’t my friend’s daughter, I’d want to.”

Grain grumbled and climbed into the armored vehicle first.

Leona smiled faintly, then drove the armored vehicle out of Dongdaemun.

---

The top-grade Mana Stone returned to City Hall, and the clergymen who had entered Shinchon all returned to Dongdaemun. Zeon, Levin, and Briel also returned home.

“How long has it been?”

“It’s our house.”

Levin and Briel cheered and ran around the house.

They had returned after a long while, but nothing inside the house was damaged.

It was thanks to the Watching Eye completely blocking outside intrusions.

Zeon also smiled at the unchanged sight of the house.

“You’ve all been through a lot, so let’s rest properly for a while.”

“Yes, Brother.”

“Mm!”

Levin and Briel answered with excited expressions.

They each ran into their rooms.

They wanted to shower and rest as quickly as possible.

Zeon sat on the sofa in the living room and relaxed.

Beyond the neon sign in front of the window, he could see the massive City Hall building.

Jin Geum-ho must be at the top of City Hall.

‘Dongdaemun being quiet must be your doing.’

Otherwise, those fanatics would never have withdrawn from Shinchon so obediently.

It was fortunate.

If Jin Geum-ho had not intervened at the proper moment, Zeon would have ended up fighting Dongdaemun to the very end.

It was not that he feared Dongdaemun, but that kind of war of attrition was not what Zeon wanted.

Fortunately, an appropriate level of intervention had occurred when Zeon needed it.

Dongdaemun would not want to provoke Jin Geum-ho any further either, so they would restrain themselves for the time being.

“Whew!”

Zeon let out a sigh.

Many things had happened in a short time.

He had been betrayed during a dungeon clearing, dealt with a Scavenger group, restored Steel Fortress to normal, returned to Neo Seoul, and fought the force formed by Lee Ji-ryeong and Johan’s alliance.

If he had been an ordinary Awakened, he would have died several times during the process. It had been one danger after another.

The fact that he had returned safely at all was like a miracle.

No matter how strong Zeon was, mental fatigue could not help accumulating.

Even so, what he had gained was not small.

“Levin, Briel, and Eloy grew, and I also awakened a new Skill.”

Until now, he had thought of the authority to handle sand and the flame Skills he could handle with the Gauntlet of Extreme Heat as separate.

The Gauntlet of Extreme Heat, which allowed him to control ultra-high-heat flames, was certainly a great item, but since it was not his original ability, he had only thought of it as a support measure.

He had occasionally mixed sand and flames, but he had thought true fusion was something for the distant future. But through his duel with Lee Ji-ryeong, he had found a method to harmonize two different systems of Skills.

“What if I unfold Sand Gehenna in the desert?”

With only the sand he had stored in subspace, he had turned the area into a lava zone.

If he unfolded Sand Gehenna in the desert, where sand was infinite, a tremendous area would melt like lava.

It was certain to be frighteningly efficient not only against humans, but also against monsters.

“Good!”

Zeon smiled.

Having many usable Skills was a good thing.

It meant that he would have more ways to respond according to the situation, just like this time.

“I’ll think later. For now, I should rest a little.”

---

“The report says everything has been settled.”

“I see. Everyone worked hard.”

At Secretary Seo Tae-ran’s report, Jin Geum-ho, who had been looking out the window, nodded.

The place Jin Geum-ho was looking at was the slums beyond the wall.

Seo Tae-ran, who looked at the same place he had been looking for a moment, carefully spoke.

“But......”

“Mm?”

“Is it all right to end it like this? Dongdaemun wasn’t the only one involved in the top-grade Mana Stone theft. There is no definite evidence, but circumstances suggesting the South District was also involved have been detected.”

“There is no evidence.”

“If we set our minds to it, we can secure as much evidence as we want.”

“We could. But......”

“You do not wish to, do you? May I ask the reason?”

“If you press anything too hard, it bursts. The larger a city is, like Neo Seoul, the more delicate its adjustments must be. You have to loosen it appropriately, then press it again, and repeat.”

In the past, when numerous nations and cities still existed, there had been no need to pay this much attention.

Even if one city or nation fell, the human race would not disappear. But Neo Seoul was different.

It was the only city in this world that had achieved ultra-advanced civilization.

The moment this place collapsed, surviving humanity would return to the medieval era. Not only would civilization regress, but humanity itself might be completely driven to extinction from this world.

Jin Geum-ho did not want such a situation to come.

He had the responsibility to protect humanity and make it prosper.

For now, because circumstances were not favorable, he was content with being the mayor of Neo Seoul, but his goal was to one day leave this small land and rebuild the human world.

Even now, he was working relentlessly toward that goal.

Until he achieved that goal, he would not rest or stop.

“Now that the troublesome matters have been settled to some extent, we should begin our work again.”

“Will you simply leave Zeon alone?”

“Why? Is Zeon a problem?”

“If we look at it strictly, this incident would not have happened without Zeon. He will continue to be a problem in the future.”

“He may.”

“Would it not be better to eliminate him now......?”

“Do you have the confidence?”

“If we move the Numbers......”

“He killed Lee Ji-ryeong, who became Grade S. That means his own ability is at least Grade S or above. If we are to kill him, the Numbers will suffer casualties too. I do not want such a situation.”

“But......”

“Tae-ran!”

Jin Geum-ho’s voice suddenly lowered.

At that instant, Seo Tae-ran tensed.

“I need him. Without him, I cannot obtain Moby Dick’s heart, and without Moby Dick’s heart, my plan will suffer a serious setback. Surely you do not wish for that to happen.”

“No, sir. I apologize. I overstepped my place and crossed the line.”

Seo Tae-ran trembled, feeling as if her heart had dropped.

Unable to dare look at Jin Geum-ho’s face, she hurriedly lowered her head.

“That is as far as it goes. That is the line up to which I can look kindly on you.”

“I will...... keep that in mind.”

Seo Tae-ran’s lowered voice trembled visibly.

Her back was already soaked with sweat.