Chapter 269

Chapter 269

“Remarkable!”

After looking around inside Steel Fortress, Lee Jung-ho let out an exclamation without realizing it.

The interior space, far wider than it appeared from the outside, naturally drew admiration.

“At this scale, tens of thousands of people could easily live here. Assuming they can secure a sufficient water source.”

The more he looked, the more desirable the place became.

If this place could be made into a satellite city, Neo Seoul’s territory would expand by that much.

The problem was Zeon.

Zeon did not seem to look favorably on this place becoming a satellite city of Neo Seoul.

Without his cooperation, turning this place into a satellite city would be close to impossible.

‘Either gain his cooperation, or remove him.’

Neither option was easy.

That was how difficult Zeon was to handle.

Lee Jung-ho decided to stop thinking about him there.

What mattered right now was obtaining Moby Dick’s heart.

A resident of Steel Fortress guided Lee Jung-ho and Claire to an empty house.

“You may rest here. Lord Urtian will call you separately when it is time to eat.”

“May we look around inside while the meal is being prepared?”

“I apologize. This is the only space permitted to the two of you.”

The resident politely refused Lee Jung-ho’s request.

Lee Jung-ho frowned as though displeased. However, since he had come as a guest, he had to follow the master’s wishes, so he did not make any further request.

“Then please rest well.”

The resident greeted the two of them and went outside.

Once only the two of them were left, Claire said to Lee Jung-ho,

“Then I’ll wash first.”

The thought that she could finally shower to her heart’s content after so long brought color back to Claire’s face.

“Do as you please.”

“Yes!”

Claire quickly entered the bathroom.

Left alone, Lee Jung-ho looked out the window.

He sensed residents loitering outside the house.

They seemed to be watching the house where the two of them were staying.

“It cannot be helped.”

If he set his mind to it, he could avoid their eyes and go outside as much as he wanted, but if he were discovered by any chance, he would only earn Zeon’s distrust.

To obtain Moby Dick’s heart, Zeon’s cooperation was absolutely necessary. Until then, he had to refrain from doing anything that would put him out of Zeon’s favor.

---

“His gaze did not look ordinary. Do you think he will cause trouble?”

“He probably will not. For now, he still needs me.”

“If so, that is a relief......”

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

The moment he saw Lee Jung-ho, he felt a chilling sensation, as if a blade had touched his neck.

Even Pabilsa, who had wandered the desert all his life and met countless Awakened, had never encountered a powerhouse who gave off the same feeling as Lee Jung-ho.

The strongest person he had ever met was Deioden.

Lee Jung-ho could not dare compare to Deioden.

Deioden felt like an overwhelmingly powerful typhoon that destroyed everything in front of him.

By contrast, Lee Jung-ho gave off a murderous feeling, as though he would slice apart any living being in front of him in an instant.

In terms of pressure and skill, Deioden was far above him, but Deioden had no reason to attack Pabilsa.

On the other hand, Lee Jung-ho gave off a chilling sense that, if something displeased him, he would draw his sword at any moment and cut off Pabilsa’s head. That made him feel more threatening.

‘Of course, if we are talking about danger, this one is the most dangerous.’

Pabilsa looked at Zeon with a renewed expression.

At that moment, Kaylee, who was beside him, pointed at Zeon’s right arm.

“Isn’t that gauntlet the one I made for you?”

“That is right.”

“But something seems a little different. May I take a look?”

Kaylee could not take her eyes off the Ultra-Heat Gauntlet Zeon was wearing.

The Ultra-Heat Gauntlet, embedded with a Dragon’s Eye, was giving off an aura quite different from before.

Because it was an object she had made herself, she could not help being interested in the gauntlet’s changes.

“I installed a Dragon’s Eye into the gauntlet you made for me.”

“Really? That is a Dragon’s Eye?”

“Yes! Please examine it yourself.”

Zeon removed the Ultra-Heat Gauntlet and handed it to Kaylee.

After receiving the Ultra-Heat Gauntlet, Kaylee was startled by the faint heat she felt from it.

“This intense heat...... Could it be a Red Dragon?”

“That is right.”

“Insane.”

Kaylee let out an exclamation without realizing it.

To her as well, dragons were beings of legend.

Naturally, she had never seen a dragon, let alone obtained something like its eye.

It was only natural that her curiosity was stirred.

“Who installed this for you?”

“An Enchanter I happened to meet did it.”

“They must have been a high-ranking Enchanter.”

“That is correct.”

“But perhaps because this was not a gauntlet they made themselves, they could not draw out one hundred percent of its performance.”

“Are you saying it is incomplete?”

“Yes! There is room for improvement.”

Kaylee’s nose flared.

It was a habit that appeared when she became excited.

The Ultra-Heat Gauntlet had evolved to a higher level than when she had made it. It was already impressive now, but there was a possibility that it could become even more perfect.

The Kaylee of now was not the Kaylee of the past.

After parting from Zeon, she had created countless objects and advanced as well.

Now, she was a Grade S Enchanter.

She had reached the highest Grade as an Enchanter.

Although she had not the slightest combat power, at least when it came to creating items and granting them special properties, there was no one who could follow her.

Only Pabilsa knew that she had reached Grade S. That was how thoroughly they had kept it secret.

“Will you entrust it to me tonight? I’ll make it the best it can be.”

“I would be the one asking you to do so.”

“Then I will proceed?”

“Yes!”

“Good!”

Kaylee held the Ultra-Heat Gauntlet and rejoiced like a child.

Pabilsa clicked his tongue when he saw that.

“That tomboy! Is she that happy?”

He spoke that way, but a pleased light lingered on his face.

When an artisan encountered the finest materials, they burned with passion. Enchanters were no different.

The finest material had been added to the gauntlet that was her masterpiece.

It would have been stranger if she had not been excited as an Enchanter.

Kaylee entered her room carrying the Ultra-Heat Gauntlet.

Zeon flexed the fingers of his right hand.

Without the gauntlet he had worn without removing for even a moment over the past eight years, he felt empty.

It was as though a part of his body had fallen away.

He wondered if this was what a sense of loss felt like.

Even so, this was a process for further advancement, so he had to endure it.

Pabilsa said,

“You must be tired, so rest well for now.”

“Yes! You should rest too, Old Man.”

“Let us meet again in the evening.”

Pabilsa went outside, leaving Zeon alone.

Zeon let out a quiet sigh.

“It feels empty.”

---

After returning to her room, Kaylee gazed at the Ultra-Heat Gauntlet with an enraptured expression.

It was a masterpiece she had created with her own hands.

Although it had advanced further afterward through the enchantment of the Dragon’s Eye, its base remained exactly as she had made it.

“I do not know who it was, but a truly remarkable Enchanter worked on this.”

Modifying an object made by someone else was never easy.

That was because each Enchanter possessed their own unique working methods and Skills.

It was better to make something from the beginning oneself. To modify something made by another person required tremendous effort and time.

Moreover, to install an out-of-grade item like a Dragon’s Eye required extraordinary concentration and ability.

The Enchanter who had installed the Red Dragon’s Eye into the gauntlet she had made was a tremendously skilled expert.

A skilled expert who could not even be compared to her at the time.

But a long time had passed since then, and Kaylee too had undergone a dramatic change. She had become a Grade S Enchanter.

In Kaylee’s eyes as a Grade S Enchanter, the points for improving the Ultra-Heat Gauntlet came into view.

Because it was an item she had made herself, she knew clearly how to draw out more of its performance.

To improve its performance, she needed no small amount of materials.

Every single one was a rare material that was not easy to obtain. But Kaylee was not worried.

That was because the necessary materials already existed in her subspace.

While wandering the desert atop Archelon, she had desperately obtained every rare material she could find. Thanks to that, her subspace was overflowing with all kinds of rare materials.

“Let us see. First, I should reinforce its strength with the Ghost Beetle’s shell, then stabilize the mana flow with the Rainbow Butterfly’s wings. To draw out the full authority of the Red Dragon’s Eye, Exrium, the rare metal I obtained from the volcanic dungeon, should be good.”

She continued imagining.

Infinite imagination was the greatest weapon she possessed.

Imagine, plan, and manifest.

Those were the basic virtues an Enchanter had to possess.

All night long, Kaylee pictured the final evolved form of the Ultra-Heat Gauntlet in her mind. And only when she finally drew a form and performance she liked did she begin working.

“The first is the Ghost Beetle’s shell.”

The Ghost Beetle’s carapace had a pattern resembling a ghost. That was why it was named the Ghost Beetle.

The Ghost Beetle’s carapace was unbelievably hard and had high mana conductivity. Because it was that rare and difficult to obtain, she had treasured and stored it carefully.

Kaylee raised her mana and murmured,

“Modification(Modify)!”

At that moment, the mana released from her hands seeped into the Ghost Beetle’s carapace, and it began to change shape.

It was impossible to cut or bend the Ghost Beetle’s carapace through ordinary methods. But to Kaylee, a Grade S Enchanter, shaping the Ghost Beetle’s shell into the form she desired was not very difficult.

Among an Enchanter’s Skills, Modification tailored materials into the desired form. All that was needed was mana, a clear mental image, and the will to make it happen.

Kaylee possessed all three.

A short while later, the Ghost Beetle’s shell had been shaped into the form she wanted.

Kaylee placed the Ultra-Heat Gauntlet on top of it.

“Fusion(Combine)!”

As the Ghost Beetle’s shell slowly melted into the Ultra-Heat Gauntlet, an intense red light burst forth.

Kaylee stared straight into the light, which was so intense it was difficult to keep her eyes open.

In her eyes, she could see the two objects fusing inside the light.

To be precise, the Ghost Beetle’s shell was being absorbed into the Ultra-Heat Gauntlet, but that did not matter.

Right now, she had to maintain this momentum.

Once the Ghost Beetle’s shell had been absorbed to a certain degree, what she took out next was a translucent object that shone brilliantly in seven colors, as if a rainbow dwelled within it.

It was the Rainbow Butterfly’s wing.

Contrary to its pretty name, the Rainbow Butterfly was a merciless predator.

It rode the wind and flew across the desert. When it discovered prey, it shook its wings and scattered neural poison.

A living creature that inhaled the fine neural poison would reach death in only a few seconds.

Humans were no exception, and neither were monsters.

The Rainbow Butterfly used its rolled-up, tube-like proboscis as a straw and sucked up the bodily fluids of its prey.

No matter how large the monster was, in less than ten minutes it would become a completely dried mummy.

‘It is fortunate that Rainbow Butterflies live in distant deserts where almost no people live. If they were near here, no one would be alive.’

The Rainbow Butterfly made no sound when it flapped its wings.

It approached so stealthily that one would not notice even if it came right above one’s head.

From the victim’s perspective, they would lose consciousness without even knowing what had killed them.

To humans, this type of monster was more dangerous than enormous monsters.

No one knew how many more monsters like this existed in the sky.

At a glance, it seemed as if nothing were there, but if one climbed to a high altitude beyond the reach of human sight, dangerous monsters like Rainbow Butterflies teemed there.

Kaylee erased her thoughts and focused once more on the Rainbow Butterfly’s wing.

When she manifested her ability, a lump of mana drained from her body.

Large beads of sweat flowed endlessly down Kaylee’s face. But she did not blink once and maintained an extreme level of concentration as she unfolded her Skill.

FLASH!

Finally, the instant Exrium was added, the Dragon’s Eye embedded in the Ultra-Heat Gauntlet emitted a light so intense that it could not be compared to anything before.

As Kaylee examined the completed gauntlet, she jolted violently without realizing it.

“Hic!”