Chapter 248

Chapter 248

Zeon, who had been walking with Briel, suddenly asked as if something had occurred to him.

“What about Levin?”

“He still hasn’t come home.”

“How many days has it been?”

“I think it’s been over a week. Nothing happened to him, right?”

Briel answered with a worried expression.

“Nothing serious happened. Don’t worry.”

“I guess so!”

Briel nodded.

The one who had grown the most during their journey through the desert was Levin. He was a dual awakened who could use both Ghost Transformation and Purple Lightning.

There were certainly many Awakened stronger than Levin, but killing him would not be easy. That was because if he escaped through Ghost Transformation, almost no one could catch him.

The two set aside their worries about Levin and continued walking.

After walking for a long while, they arrived at the Dokkaebi Market.

“Oh, Lord Zeon!”

“Welcome.”

When Zeon arrived, the gatekeepers standing guard at the entrance greeted him warmly.

They knew that the Dongdaemun fanatics who had tried to wither the Dokkaebi Market to death had withdrawn because of Zeon.

They let Zeon and Briel into the Dokkaebi Market without any separate inspection procedure.

Now that Dongdaemun had withdrawn, the Dokkaebi Market was full of life.

It finally felt as if warmth had returned properly.

Once they entered the Dokkaebi Market, Briel’s face also brightened with life.

“I’m going to look for new materials. See you later, Zeon!”

Excited, Briel ran toward the area where the shops selling monster by-products were gathered.

To her, the Dokkaebi Market was like a playground.

Everything she needed was scattered here. Finding those materials was a great joy for Briel.

Zeon let Briel go off and enjoy herself alone.

He too had come today with a purpose.

The place Zeon headed toward was the office of Guild Head Yu Se-hee.

“Welcome.”

Yu Se-hee greeted him warmly.

“Have you been well?”

“Thanks to you......”

Yu Se-hee shrugged.

Thanks to Zeon, Dongdaemun had found peace.

A few minor problems remained, but time would solve those.

“So, what brings you here?”

“There’s something I need.”

“You’re making me nervous.”

“What?”

“I’m wondering what kind of grand thing you want if you came to me personally.”

Yu Se-hee grew tense.

There was no item an Awakened of Zeon’s caliber could not obtain.

Even if it was not the Dokkaebi Market, he could obtain almost anything elsewhere if he set his mind to it.

For someone like Zeon to come to Yu Se-hee personally meant that the item he wanted was absolutely not ordinary.

Zeon smiled and said,

“It’s nothing much. If there’s an item related to subspace, I’d like to obtain it.”

“Subspace?”

“Yes! I realized this time that my subspace is cramped.”

“Your subspace is cramped? Hah!”

Yu Se-hee let out a sigh.

She knew it too.

She knew that Zeon had an unbelievably huge subspace.

Perhaps the only human who carried an entire subspace full of sand was Zeon. For someone like him to say that his subspace was cramped, she could not help finding it absurd.

On the other hand, she also understood.

The sand inside Zeon’s subspace was his trump card.

A trump card displayed its power when others did not know about it. But now Neo Seoul’s power holders knew that Zeon carried sand in his subspace.

They would certainly prepare countermeasures for it.

Just as Lee Ji-ryeong had used the NSSC prison.

‘So Zeon must be trying to prepare too.’

A deep furrow formed between Yu Se-hee’s brows.

After thinking for a long while, she spoke with difficulty.

“As you know, subspace items aren’t that common. In particular, no subspace item as large as the subspace you possess has ever been released into the market.”

“Do they exist?”

“They might. Among the items found in dungeons, there are things that surpass imagination. But I’ve never seen one myself.”

“Mm!”

“I’ll look into whether there are any related items.”

“Please.”

Zeon did not think he could obtain a subspace-related item right away either.

Even a subspace about the size of a cart rarely appeared on the market. Cases where a larger subspace appeared on the market were almost nonexistent.

He had simply told Yu Se-hee in advance so that he could obtain information on related items if any appeared.

“Then the only thing you need is a subspace item?”

“For now, yes.”

“I suppose other items wouldn’t catch your eye. Then are you going straight home?”

“I’ll do some window-shopping while I wait for Briel.”

“Go ahead.”

“I’ll be going.”

After saying goodbye to Yu Se-hee, Zeon went outside.

“We’re selling Two-Headed One-Horned Snake horns cheap.”

“Customer, come take a look.”

At every shop, merchants were absorbed in calling for customers.

Zeon also stopped by each shop to see if there was anything useful, but unfortunately, no item satisfied his standards.

In particular, subspace-related items had dried up entirely.

In the end, Zeon gave up on obtaining a subspace-related item from the Dokkaebi Market and sat down on a chair.

As he sat in the chair waiting for Briel, he naturally grew sleepy.

While Zeon was dozing off like that, a man approached stealthily.

The man, who had approached right behind Zeon, suddenly drew a sword and attacked him.

SWISH!

At the sharp sound of air being split, Zeon opened his eyes.

CLANG—!

The sword flying toward Zeon’s throat was blocked by the Gauntlet of Extreme Heat and deflected.

“Who are you?”

“Die!”

The man shouted and attacked Zeon.

The face of the man swinging the sword at him was filled with madness.

Zeon frowned and dodged the man’s attack.

CRASH—!

The man’s sword struck the wrong wall.

The solid wall was torn apart like sponge.

That was how much powerful force his attack contained.

If it had been most Awakened, they would have suffered serious injuries or lost their lives from that attack.

SWISH, SWISH, SWISH—!

The man’s attacks drove toward Zeon like a storm.

Zeon blocked the man’s attacks with the Gauntlet of Extreme Heat or redirected them.

“Huh! Isn’t that man?”

“Isn’t that Garion?”

Nearby merchants recognized the man’s identity.

The man named Garion paid no attention to their reactions and attacked Zeon like a madman.

A resentment intense enough to make one feel that he absolutely had to kill Zeon radiated from him.

Zeon looked troubled.

It was bewildering for a man he had never seen before to attack him so desperately. But that did not mean he intended to meekly suffer at the man’s hands.

CRACK—!

Zeon’s leg drove into the man’s side.

The tremendous impact shattered all of the man’s ribs.

It was powerful enough that an ordinary person could have died instantly. But the man attacked Zeon with an expression that seemed to say he felt nothing.

At that moment, Zeon saw the man’s side rapidly returning to its original state.

“Hm? Regeneration?”

Among martial-type Awakened, there were occasionally those who possessed regenerative abilities.

No matter how severe a wound they suffered, they quickly recovered. By burning a tremendous amount of mana and life force, they displayed regenerative power that surpassed human limits.

Awakened who possessed super-regeneration ability received precious treatment in each district or raid team.

That was because it was an ability optimized for so-called tanks.

But those with super-regeneration ability were extremely rare.

CRASH—!

Zeon’s attack snapped the man’s head to the side.

It was a serious injury that had broken his neck bones. But he used his super-regeneration ability and quickly returned to normal.

“Dieee!”

He screamed and attacked Zeon. But he was no match for Zeon.

Super-regeneration ability was not an invincible shield.

Zeon knew very well that in the face of an impact that surpassed its limit, even super-regeneration ability was useless.

CRASH—!

Zeon’s fist struck the man’s temple.

At that instant, focus vanished from the man’s eyes.

His mind had been blown away by the tremendous shock.

Zeon swung his leg at the man’s head once more.

CRAAASH—!

The man, struck in the head, was slammed straight into the floor.

Zeon stepped on the man’s chest and said,

“Now, shall you tell me why you attacked me?”

“Krrgh!”

The man struggled and tried to escape from under Zeon’s foot, but it was useless. That was because tremendous pressure was crushing him down as if he were caught in an enormous press.

“W-wait a moment.”

“You, aren’t you Garion?”

Among the merchants who had been watching the fight, several hurriedly ran over.

Zeon asked them,

“Do you know him?”

“Yes. Until recently, he was a merchant who did business with us.”

One merchant answered hurriedly.

“Why would someone like that attack me?”

“This friend was actually recruited by Dongdaemun.”

“Recruited?”

“Yes! He became a believer of Dongdaemun.”

“Mm!”

It had happened when Dongdaemun had taken control of about half of Shinchon.

Zeon had not known because he was not interested, but at that time, quite a few people from Shinchon had gone over to Dongdaemun.

The man named Garion was one of them.

“Krrgh! Die, you unbeliever.”

Garion, pinned under Zeon’s foot, thrashed wildly.

His eyes had rolled back, and he was foaming at the mouth, making him look completely out of his mind.

Zeon asked the merchant,

“Was this man awakened before?”

“No, he was just an ordinary person......”

The merchant looked at Garion in surprise.

Garion had clearly been an ordinary person like him. But the sight Garion had just shown was far removed from that of an ordinary person.

“What happened?”

“What in the world happened to this friend?”

The merchants looked at one another with confused expressions.

“Grrrgh! Aaaah!”

Garion, who had tried to push Zeon’s foot away, let out a monstrous scream.

It seemed as if he would choke himself to death from his own frenzy.

Zeon grabbed Garion’s face with his hand.

The merchants misunderstood, thinking Zeon was about to kill Garion, and shouted.

“Wait! Please don’t kill Garion.”

THUM—!

At that instant, mana was released from Zeon’s hand.

The mana, containing the energy of flame, struck Garion’s brain.

At the shock of his brain being shaken, Garion lost consciousness.

Only then did Zeon release the hand covering Garion’s face.

Looking at the motionless Garion, the merchant carefully asked,

“Did you kill him?”

“I only knocked him unconscious for a moment. He’s fine.”

“That’s a relief.”

At Zeon’s answer, the merchant let out a sigh of relief.

Even though Garion had gone over to Dongdaemun, there was still affection left from having done business together.

At that moment, the Guards protecting the Dokkaebi Market came running.

After hearing the merchants’ story, the Guards took Garion away.

From now on, it was a matter they had to resolve.

Garion disappeared from sight, but questions remained.

‘Did he awaken after being recruited by Dongdaemun? Fine, let’s say he awakened late. Then why did he attack me? Does he have a grudge against me?’

Zeon thought that could be possible.

He might have been connected to someone Zeon had killed.

There were not only one or two people like that in Neo Seoul.

It would not be strange at all if someone held a grudge against Zeon.

At that moment, Briel appeared.

“Did you wait long?”

“No. Let’s go home.”

“Mm!”

Perhaps because she had enjoyed satisfying shopping, a pleased smile had appeared on Briel’s face.