Chapter 314

Chapter 314

The Central District where City Hall was located boasted security and order on an entirely different level from the other districts.

There was a reason countless Awakened units, guilds, and research facilities were stationed there.

Causing trouble there meant directly challenging City Hall’s authority, and City Hall never overlooked those who opposed it.

City Hall possessed tremendous combat power that the other districts could not dare compare to.

Because of that, no matter how much power an Awakened wielded in another district, they had no choice but to be careful with their conduct when they came to the Central District.

It was not a place where Scavengers could dare operate.

The Scavengers used City Hall’s authority to their advantage.

They prepared a nest near City Hall and instead avoided its surveillance.

Nest No. 5, which David had told him about, was located underground in a building two blocks away from City Hall.

The seventh basement floor, which did not exist on the blueprints, was Nest No. 5.

“Interesting.”

“You call this interesting?”

Beside Zeon was David, whose face was twisted in a grimace.

Zeon smiled and said,

“Aren’t you curious what expression the City Hall officials will make when they learn there’s a Scavenger nest right under their noses?”

“I’m not curious at all.”

“That’s a shame. It would’ve been nice if you could see their faces with me.”

“Damn it!”

Sweat poured endlessly down David’s stiff face.

Nest No. 5, located near City Hall, was the most important nest.

Because it was the only place in the Central District where Scavengers could rest, none of the other nests could compare to it in importance.

If Nest No. 5 was raided, it was certain to send a huge shock through the Scavenger world.

If the other Scavengers learned that David had guided Zeon here, they would never leave him alone.

David intended to guide Zeon to Nest No. 5 and then flee straight to the slums.

That was because he had personally prepared a safe house there.

Zeon said,

“Lead the way. I want to see them quickly.”

“Hoo! Understood.”

David led the way, his head lowered like an ox being dragged to a slaughterhouse.

He guided Zeon to the building’s rear door.

The rear door was exquisitely hidden from people’s sight, and concealment Magic had been placed on it.

Because of that, most people did not even recognize that there was a rear door here.

Zeon asked,

“How do you open the door?”

“Hah!”

David sighed.

That was because he was about to have even his last foundation exposed.

Without saying anything, he took out the Morse and held it against a panel beside the rear door.

CLANK—!

In that instant, the rear door opened.

“Ah! So the Morse is the key.”

“Each Morse contains its owner’s information.”

“Then all the other Scavengers will know you were the one who guided me to Nest No. 5 and even opened the door.”

“Fuck!”

“You’ll have to run quickly.”

“You’re letting me go?”

“Surely not. I have to confirm it first. You might have told me falsely.”

“Damn it!”

David lowered his head and entered the building.

Inside the rear door was a small elevator room.

It was an elevator that went straight down to the seventh basement floor.

The two took the elevator down to the seventh basement floor.

David said with an anxious expression,

“I’ll only send you down, Mr. Zeon, then go right back up.”

“Go ahead.”

“Really?”

“Yes! Once I confirm that this is the nest, I’ll have no further business with you.”

“Thank you.”

“No need to thank me.”

Zeon chuckled.

Ding!

At that moment, the elevator reached the seventh basement floor, and the doors opened.

David pointed beyond the doors and said,

“This is Nest No. 5......”

RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!

In that instant, a barrage of bullets fired into the elevator.

They were bullets specially made to kill Awakened.

They had enough power to kill an Awakened caught off guard.

David turned into a honeycomb in an instant and collapsed.

He could not even scream.

It was that sudden and unexpected.

The bullets also struck Zeon’s body.

The only difference from David was that Zeon was wearing a robe made from Leviathan’s hide.

Thud, thud, thud, thud!

The bullets battered his entire body fiercely, but they failed to pierce the robe and fell to the floor.

Zeon murmured,

“You were waiting.”

“I wondered if it might happen, and sure enough, it did. Fuck! You Sandmancer bastard!”

Instead of an answer, a curse came from inside.

Inside Nest No. 5, numerous Awakened were holding weapons and glaring at Zeon.

At their center stood Hassim.

Around Hassim were Akashi, Bucksher, and Etli.

The core members of the Helbrin Mercenary Corps had gathered in one place.

Hassim was looking at Zeon with a sickened expression.

“What grudge do you have against us that you’re chasing us like this, as if one of us has to die?”

“Did you plunder the other survivor villages because you had a grudge against them?”

“Fuck! Put it that way, and I’ve got nothing to say.”

“Well, there are actually a few reasons, but I don’t think I need to tell you.”

“Your arrogance pierces the sky.”

“That’s because I have the ability to back it up.”

“I know. That’s why we fled all the way here.”

“Running away near City Hall was an excellent choice. If not for David, I would never have found out you were here.”

“Hehe! I thought something was off from the moment that bastard contacted us.”

Hassim laughed, showing his yellow teeth.

When David’s message arrived, Hassim had already completely taken control of Nest No. 5.

Because of that, he immediately realized David was asking around the nests to find them.

The fact that Hassim thought of Zeon in that moment was purely because of his instincts.

There was no evidence whatsoever, but Hassim trusted his instincts.

Zeon asked Hassim,

“Where are the people you kidnapped from the survivor villages?”

“You chased me all the way here just because of those rice-wasting trash? That’s absurd.”

“Just answer.”

“I already handed them over to the Spider Queen. You were chasing me so persistently that I didn’t have the leeway to keep them.”

“You handed them to her already?”

“Why, does that sadden you? If you hadn’t pressured me so much, I would’ve kept them a little longer. Then they wouldn’t have had to die so early.”

“So you already knew she was raising Gu.”

“Hehe! How could I not know? I’m the one who introduced her to the one who controls Gu.”

“So that’s what happened. You were the connecting link.”

Zeon nodded.

He had wondered how the Five Poisons Clan had become connected to Eli. It turned out Hassim had been in the middle.

Shing!

Hassim drew his kukri and said,

“Knowing won’t do you any good. You’re going to die here.”

“Well, it looks like you have something you’re relying on.”

“I do. The elevator you’re standing in.”

“Pardon?”

“I installed the ‘Sun-Eating Dog’ inside it.”

CRACK—!

In that instant, dazzling light burst out inside the elevator.

The light stretched out in lines, soon crystallizing and hardening.

In an instant, the inside of the elevator transformed like crystal. Just like the Morse the Scavengers used.

Zeon’s body stiffened in the exact posture he had held while speaking to Hassim.

Like a mosquito trapped in amber, hardened and preserved in perfect form for millions of years.

Thump, thump!

Hassim knocked on the crystal with the back of his hand and smiled in satisfaction.

“As expected of the ‘Sun-Eating Dog.’”

“To think you used something so precious. It’s the only thing of its kind in the world. Tsk!”

Etli, who stood beside him, looked regretful.

The Sun-Eating Dog was the core of a dungeon they had discovered by chance.

If the Watching Eye in Zeon’s house was an item that rejected intruders outright, the Sun-Eating Dog was a vicious item that trapped intruders in crystal forever.

That crystallized crystal could never be broken from the inside.

That was because the crystal tightened powerfully enough that one could not move even a finger, and it interfered with an Awakened’s ability to move mana.

The only way to escape the Sun-Eating Dog was for a Grade S Awakened to break the crystal from the outside with overwhelming power.

But there were no Grade S Awakened here, and even if there were, there was no reason for them to free Zeon.

Bucksher sniffed and muttered,

“Sniff! What a shame. If he’d been fine, I would’ve shown him the mighty power of a Lycanthrope.”

“Hehe! Don’t make me laugh. If he’d been fine, you would’ve had to tuck your tail and run, you stupid wolf bastard!”

“What, stupid?”

“Yeah! Try thinking with your head. Why else would the Captain use an item he’d saved until the very end? That bastard is a monster we can’t deal with through ordinary means.”

“He’s...... that much?”

“Dumb dog-head.”

Etli sighed and shook his head.

At that moment, Hassim said,

“Everyone shut up and store this carefully. It’ll be worth seeing if we make it a trophy later.”

“Hehe! A crystal with the Sandmancer trapped inside should be worth a lot of money.”

Etli grinned.

Hassim nodded and said,

“You handle making it look good. Let’s see a dwarf’s craftsmanship for the first time in a while.”

“As much as you want. Hehe!”

It was then.

Crack!

A sound that absolutely should not have been heard came from the crystal.

“What?”

“Don’t tell me?”

The two men looked at the crystal in shock.

Crack, crack!

Before their eyes, fine cracks began to form in the crystal.

The fine cracks soon spread across the entire crystal like spiderwebs.

Cracks were spreading through the Sun-Eating Dog, the thing in which they had placed such confidence.

Hassim clenched his molars.

“So even the ‘Sun-Eating Dog’ doesn’t work on him?”

“He really is a monster beyond reason!”

Even Etli could not hide his bewildered expression.

Bucksher transformed into a werewolf and shouted,

“Graaargh! Stop jabbering and prepare for battle. He’ll break out soon.”

“Everyone, prepare for battle!”

At Hassim’s shout, the Scavengers hurriedly entered combat readiness again.

Crack! Crack, crack!

Even in that moment, the cracks in the crystal trapping Zeon were growing.

The sound of the crystal cracking struck the Scavengers’ chests painfully, like an iron mace.

“Fuck!”

“Son of a bitch......”

The Scavengers gritted their teeth and glared at the crystal.

It was when their tension reached its peak.

VWOOM—!

The crystal that had trapped Zeon finally shattered before the Scavengers.

In that instant, Hassim shouted,

“Attack!”

“Hyaaaah!”

“Die!”

The Scavengers inside the nest launched an all-out attack.

All kinds of Skills poured into the elevator.

At this level, even if they could not kill Zeon, the Scavengers were confident they would at least inflict quite a few wounds.

Whoosh!

In that instant, a single flame flew out of the elevator and fell among the Scavengers.

“......”

The Scavengers blinked for a moment.

That was because the flame swaying among them was too beautiful.

Its beauty, like a flower blooming in the desert, captivated their minds.

It was then.

BOOM—!

The flame that had shown off its brilliant form for a moment burst apart.

The sparks flying in every direction stuck to the Scavengers.

It was the beginning of hell.

“Kraaaah!”

“It’s too hot!”

“Save me!”

The Scavengers rolled across the floor, crying out in pain.

But no matter how much they rolled, the flames that had once caught would not go out.

A fire that would never extinguish until it burned everything it had ignited.

“It’s called white phosphorus flame.”

Zeon murmured as he walked out of the elevator.