Chapter 299

Chapter 299

The Helbrin Mercenary Corps was a small Scavenger group consisting of about forty people.

Considering that there were many Scavenger groups in the desert with hundreds of members, the fact that the Helbrin Mercenary Corps had survived until now was close to a miracle. However, no one in the Helbrin Mercenary Corps thought their survival was a miracle.

That was because they had the ability to make it happen.

Their Captain, Hassim, was a Grade B martial-type Awakened, and the rest of the members were made up of Grade C and Grade D Awakened.

An Awakened around Grade C was treated as valuable combat power even in Neo Seoul. There were ten such Grade C Awakened in the Helbrin Mercenary Corps.

Bucksher and Etli, who had entered Neo Seoul for negotiations, were also Grade C Awakened.

However, there was an Awakened in the Helbrin Mercenary Corps who was treated as even more valuable than them.

“How is it? Do you sense anything?”

“There are life reactions two kilometers east.”

“How many?”

“Not many. Around six. It seems to be one family.”

The man in his early twenties answering Hassim was named Akashi.

Akashi was a Japanese-descent Awakened, and his narrow, sharp eyes were striking.

He was a magic-type Awakened who possessed a detection Skill.

It was Search for Extra, a lifeform detection Skill.

It was a Skill that could detect every living creature within his detection range.

It could be considered a kind of radar.

Akashi was a core member of the Helbrin Mercenary Corps.

That was because, thanks to him, they could easily find and plunder people hiding in the desert, and they could also detect monsters in advance and avoid them.

Akashi had played a major role in the survival of the Helbrin Mercenary Corps, a small group.

Hassim frowned.

“That isn’t much. Still, it’s better than nothing. Go catch them.”

“Yes, sir!”

At his command, more than ten men sprang forward.

Since all of them were riding Bactrian Camels, they reached the destination in an instant.

It was a hill covered in sand.

After briefly scanning the surroundings, they soon discovered terrain that felt slightly out of place.

“A camouflage tarp!”

A camouflage tarp similar to sand had been cleverly spread out.

It was a kind of tent made by setting up several thin metal rods as pillars on the sloped sand dune and covering them with the camouflage tarp.

Whoosh!

When they pulled back the camouflage tarp, they saw people hiding inside.

The man who seemed to be the head of the household and a boy who looked about fifteen or sixteen years old screamed and attacked.

“Fuck! Die.”

“Hyaaah!”

What they held in their hands were knives made from the bones of an unknown monster.

Both of them were Grade F Awakened.

Naturally, they were faster and stronger than ordinary people, but they were no match for the Helbrin Mercenary Corps.

CRUNCH—!

With the sound of bones breaking, the two were subdued in an instant.

“Not my family. You demons!”

“Let me go!”

The two men, trampled under the mercenaries’ feet, struggled, but it was useless.

“Hehe! They’re putting up a decent fight.”

“They’re still fucking small fry. Let’s see if there’s anything useful here.”

The mercenaries mocked them and looked at their family.

There was an old man with difficulty moving, a woman who seemed to be the mother, and two young children looking at them with faces filled with fear.

The mercenary who approached them spat on the ground and said,

“Six people. One of them is useless trash that can’t even be recycled. Damn it!”

“P-Please spare me.”

The old man, sensing his fate, knelt and begged.

“If I spare you, you’ll only waste food. Why bother?”

The mercenary drove his blade straight into the old man’s chest.

SQUELCH—!

“Guh!”

The old man vomited blood and looked at the mercenary with eyes full of disbelief.

The mercenary gave a fishy smile as he watched the dying old man.

“Father!”

“Father-in-law!”

“Grandfather!”

The family screamed after losing their blood kin before their eyes. But their wails stirred no feeling in the mercenaries.

The mercenaries mercilessly trampled them.

“Aaah!”

“Hrk!”

The family screamed beneath their kicks. But the mercenaries did not even blink as they stomped them thoroughly.

Only by doing this would they be unable to resist while being dragged away.

“The problem is these bastards......”

The mercenaries’ gazes turned to the head of the household and the boy beneath their feet.

Even if they were the lowest Grade F, they were still martial-type Awakened. Their danger level was different from the lower-grade alchemist they had already captured.

If they were left alive, they were risk factors who could thrust a blade at them at any time.

Without mana restraints, it was impossible to suppress them completely.

“Well, it’s a waste, but there’s no helping it.”

Clicking their tongues, they drove their blades into the father and son’s chests.

SQUELCH—!

SQUELCH!

They killed people mechanically, without the slightest hesitation, as if slaughtering monsters.

The father and son died without even a scream.

When the family saw that and tried to scream, the mercenaries said coldly,

“Anyone who opens their mouth from now on will end up exactly the same.”

“......”

At their words, the family had no choice but to cover their mouths.

Only then did the mercenaries smile in satisfaction.

They bound the survivors and returned to where Hassim was.

“We killed three and brought back three.”

“That’s all?”

“I’m sorry. We thought the rest would only waste food or resist if we left them alive.”

“Tsk! Can’t be helped. Akashi!”

Hassim called Akashi.

“Yes, Captain.”

“You’ll have to work a little harder.”

“Well, it can’t be helped.”

Continuously using Search for Extra consumed a great deal of mana. No matter how much of a Grade C Awakened Akashi was, if he used mana all day, he would simply collapse by evening.

For a mercenary who always had to be prepared for battle, it was not a very welcome situation.

“We have to fill the count to one hundred somehow, so endure until then.”

“Instead, don’t forget to take good care of me later.”

“Have you ever seen me let something like that slide? Once we occupy Steel Fortress, I’ll let you enjoy all the women you want, so look forward to it.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Only then did Akashi answer with a grin.

The Helbrin Mercenary Corps began moving again to secure more slaves.

---

“Hoo!”

Zeon looked at the corpses and let out a sigh.

He had discovered them buried beneath the sand and pulled them out.

There were three corpses in total.

An old man, a middle-aged man, and a boy.

Their faces resembled one another, so they appeared to be one family.

“They killed the old man because he was troublesome to drag along, and the son and grandson because they looked like they would resist.”

He could tell just from the father and son’s builds.

They had been martial-type Awakened.

“How unfortunate.”

Zeon sincerely pitied their deaths.

That was because he knew all too well how harsh and exhausting it was to survive in the empty desert.

They must have fought desperately against the cruel environment to protect their family, but they had died far too emptily.

“Hoo!”

Their pitiful deaths made him sigh on their own.

Briel could not bring herself to look at the corpses and lowered her head.

“This is too much! How can humans do this to other humans? Protecting and helping each other still wouldn’t be enough......”

“You’re right.”

Zeon shook his head and looked around. But the ones who had caused this tragedy were nowhere to be seen.

Zeon searched the area thoroughly, but there was not a single trace left.

That was because the sand had buried all their traces.

No matter how absurdly powerful Zeon’s ability was, he could not easily find those who had already left his detection range.

The Helbrin Mercenary Corps had already escaped Zeon’s detection range.

It was truly tremendous mobility.

“It seems all the Scavengers are riding Bactrian Camels.”

In the desert, the only mounts capable of displaying that much mobility were Bactrian Camels.

“This has become troublesome.”

Catching up to people with such strong mobility would not be easy.

“It looks like I’ll have to go up into the sky.”

“To search from high above?”

“That seems to be the only method right now.”

“Then it can’t be helped.”

“Prepare yourselves thoroughly. We don’t know what kind of monsters might attack.”

“Okay!”

Squee!

Briel and Gaia answered with determined expressions.

Briel climbed onto Gaia’s back and said,

“Don’t worry! I’ll protect you.”

Squeak, squeak!

“Yeah! Let’s do our best together.”

In that instant, Zeon slowly rose into the sky.

The sand on the ground rose like a pillar and pushed his body into the air.

Gaia also matched Zeon’s pace and flew into the sky.

Fortunately, no monsters attacked them until they reached about five hundred meters.

Zeon stopped at five hundred meters and looked around. But he could not see the Helbrin Mercenary Corps anywhere.

“I have no choice but to go a little higher.”

Ruuuumble!

Thick sand-laden wind pushed him higher.

He had risen about two hundred meters more when it happened.

WHOOOSH—!

A tremendous sound of air being split suddenly erupted from far away.

“Ah! What is that?”

By the time Briel recognized it and screamed, something whitish had already rushed at them.

CRASH—!

With a thunderous roar, Gaia’s body shook violently.

Something had flown in at a speed too fast to be seen and collided with it.

It was fortunate Gaia had unfolded a force field. Otherwise, that single attack could have sent them straight to the grave.

The object that collided with Gaia moved away at terrifying speed.

Because of that, they could not even confirm its shape.

The creature that flew far away made a wide turn and flew toward them again at terrifying speed.

BOOM—!

A sonic boom erupted from its speed, which surpassed the speed of sound.

At that moment, Zeon raised a sand wall in front of them.

CRASH—!

The object flying faster than sound pierced through the sand wall, and its direction shifted slightly.

Thanks to that, Zeon, Briel, and Gaia remained safe.

In the brief instant when the sand wall was pierced, Zeon confirmed the identity of the monster that had flown at supersonic speed.

“It’s a Blade Frigatebird.”

It was a flying monster that looked like a frigatebird inflated ten times over.

It was enormous, with its fully spread wings reaching a full five meters in length.

It rode the wind and flew twenty-four hours a day, hunting and devouring lower-ranked monsters like Bullet Hummingbirds.

In terms of pure combat power, it was only around Grade C.

The problem was that it was fast.

And it was fucking fast.

It could fly at speeds surpassing the speed of sound.

On top of that, its wings were as sharp and hard as blades.

When it flew in at supersonic speed and cut with its wings, there was almost nothing it could not slice apart.

It seemed this place was the Blade Frigatebird’s territory.

Like most monsters, the Blade Frigatebird could not stand seeing another being enter its territory.

BOOM—!

It caused another sonic boom and flew in again.

By the time they recognized the sonic boom, the Blade Frigatebird had already reached right in front of Zeon’s nose.

Its blade-like wings were flying toward Zeon’s neck.

In that instant, Zeon, who had prepared in advance, opened his mouth.

“Sand Tornado!”

A massive sand whirlwind rose in front of Zeon and swallowed the Blade Frigatebird.

ROOOOAR!