Chapter 324

Chapter 324

Rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble!

The sound of the monsters charging made it feel as if the very foundations of the earth were shaking.

The vibrations were so tremendous that even the heavy armored bus shook.

“Good heavens!”

“There are too many!”

“This truly is incredible.”

The twin sisters and Elder Go could not close their mouths as they stared in shock at the procession of monsters surging in from the distance like a tidal wave.

They had carried out countless missions in Neo Seoul.

Naturally, they had experienced as many incidents and accidents as the missions they had completed, and they had seen many terrible sights.

But they had never once seen a sight as overwhelming as the incident unfolding before their eyes now.

There were no large monsters in sight.

Most were mid- to small-sized monsters.

The majority were monsters that moved in packs, such as Flame Wolves and Great-Horned Hyenas.

If one faced them one at a time, they would not be much of a problem.

After all, Elder Go could dismantle them with a single flick of his finger.

The problem was the scale.

No matter how weak a monster was, once their numbers reached the thousands, they possessed enough combat power to tear most Awakened apart in an instant.

Moreover, both Flame Wolves and Great-Horned Hyenas had strong combat ability and ferocious temperaments.

If they attacked in packs, Awakened below Grade B could not guarantee their lives.

The monsters charging in now had even gone far beyond the normal scale of a monster horde.

This was the first time Elder Go and the twin sisters had seen such a monster army.

The monster army they were experiencing for the first time was more than enough to overwhelm the three of them.

The same was true for Seo Tae-ran, who was riding in the other armored bus.

“Impressive.”

Rumble, rumble!

The powerful vibrations traveled through the armored bus’s steel plates and reached her as well.

Since she had always stayed safely inside Neo Seoul, she had never personally faced a monster army like this.

Seo Tae-ran was confident she could dispatch most monsters in an instant, but even she had no choice but to feel overwhelmed by such a tremendous monster army.

Only now did it feel real that she had come out into the desert.

But she could not just stand there in a daze forever.

In the meantime, the monster army had almost reached them.

Seo Tae-ran gave an order to her subordinates.

“Deal with them!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Her subordinates answered briefly and jumped down from the armored bus.

They ran beside the armored bus and attacked the monsters charging toward it.

CRASH—!

CRACK—!

With rupturing sounds, the monsters at the front collapsed.

But that was not enough to stop the monsters’ charge.

They trampled over the corpses of the dead monsters and rushed toward Seo Tae-ran’s subordinates and the armored bus.

CRASH—! CRASH—! CRASH—!

As the monsters slammed their whole bodies into it, the heavy armored bus shook as if an earthquake had struck.

It was dented and caved in here and there, looking as if it might break apart at any moment.

With the situation like this, Seo Tae-ran could not help stepping forward herself.

“Hyaaah!”

Seo Tae-ran jumped down from the bus and struck the forehead of an Ironclad Rhino.

CRACK—!

The skull of the Ironclad Rhino, said to be several times harder than titanium, crumbled like tofu under Seo Tae-ran’s fist.

The Ironclad Rhino collapsed without even being able to scream. The monsters near it attacked Seo Tae-ran.

“Worthless beasts......”

A chill passed through Seo Tae-ran’s eyes.

She moved quickly through the monsters.

CRASH—! BOOM—!

Each time her fist, knee, or foot moved, monsters’ heads burst apart.

Monsters below Grade D were no match for her.

Seo Tae-ran calmly reduced their numbers, one monster at a time.

But reducing them by that much did not even show.

It was no more than scooping out a spoonful from the monster army with a teaspoon.

In a way, it could be called the limit of a martial-type Awakened.

When facing interpersonal combat or large monsters, they displayed might far greater than other Awakened, but against opponents that came in waves like this, their efficiency inevitably dropped.

The same was true of her subordinates.

They were calmly killing one monster at a time, but because there were so many monsters, it did not look as though they had killed any at all.

‘This won’t work.’

Seo Tae-ran suddenly looked toward the armored bus Zeon was riding.

A translucent membrane had formed in front of the armored bus.

Elder Go had unfolded a barrier to protect the armored bus.

THUD—! THUD—!

The monsters that had slammed into it with fierce momentum bounced away after striking the barrier.

Thanks to that, the bus could remain unharmed without taking any damage.

Under Elder Go’s protection, the twin sisters used their ability.

“Hya!”

“Mental Disruption!”

They interfered with the monsters’ minds through telepathy and disrupted them.

Their mental attack had an effect comparable to a curse.

The monsters struck by the mental attack lost their senses, went mad, and fought among themselves.

“Impressive!”

Seo Tae-ran exclaimed in admiration.

Unlike Seo Tae-ran’s group, which killed one monster at a time, the twin sisters made numerous monsters fight all at once and reduced their numbers.

But even that was not enough.

They were only slightly better than her group. They could not reduce the monsters’ numbers so noticeably that it stood out at a glance.

Seo Tae-ran’s gaze turned toward Zeon and Briel standing on the roof of the bus.

Briel was shouting hard and using Magic.

Briel was an alchemist, but she could use simple Magic.

Among them, she was especially good at wind-type Magic.

The Magic she, a Grade B Awakened, liked using most was Wind Cutter.

Vwoooom!

Blade-like winds whirled and carved up the monsters rushing toward the bus.

Arms, legs, and bodies were cut apart, and blood sprayed everywhere.

For Magic cast by a young girl, it was far too powerful.

Seo Tae-ran frowned.

That was because Briel’s ability was greater than what she had identified.

According to the Secretary Office’s investigation, Briel’s estimated Grade was Grade D. But the Magic she was using now was by no means at Grade D’s level.

‘Did her Grade rise in the meantime?’

Seo Tae-ran’s gaze shifted to Zeon behind Briel.

Seo Tae-ran knew better than anyone how difficult it was to raise one’s Grade.

In fact, she too had worked hard enough to shit blood in order to raise her Grade. And effort alone did not raise one’s Grade.

One’s Awakened ability had to be good, and one’s talent had to be outstanding. Most importantly, there had to be systematic management to raise the Grade efficiently.

Fortunately, Seo Tae-ran satisfied all three conditions.

She had Awakened at Grade D, and her physical condition as a martial artist was outstanding. Above all, she had a powerful backer in Jin Geum-ho.

Jin Geum-ho helped her grow through the optimal route.

Thanks to that, Seo Tae-ran had been able to become a Grade A martial artist at an unprecedented speed.

Because she herself had walked the royal road, she knew.

To grow several times faster than others, someone’s help was essential.

‘It’s probably thanks to that man.’

Seo Tae-ran’s gaze turned to Zeon.

The Secretary Office estimated that his Grade was Grade S. But Grade alone could not explain his uniqueness.

That was because many other Grade S individuals existed in Neo Seoul besides Zeon.

Zeon’s uniqueness lay in his Awakened class.

His one-of-a-kind ability to control sand.

On an Earth where the whole world had turned into desert, that ability displayed power stronger than anyone else’s. If such a Zeon set his mind to helping someone grow, they had no choice but to grow at rapid speed.

It was then.

Zeon, who had been watching the situation from the bus roof, walked forward.

‘Is he finally starting?’

She knew many things about Zeon.

That was because the Secretary Office sent reports on him frequently.

Thanks to that, she knew very well the power and range of the Skills Zeon frequently used. But she had never once confirmed them with her own eyes.

This was a good opportunity to witness Zeon’s Skill power with her own eyes.

Naturally, confirming something directly was more accurate than reading it in a report.

Seo Tae-ran looked at Zeon with expectant eyes.

It was then.

Gurgle!

Suddenly, the sand in the area began to writhe with an ominous sound, then started flowing on its own.

The sand flowed like a river.

It was Quick Sand, one of Zeon’s Skills.

A Skill unique to Zeon that turned an area into shifting sands.

Every area except the route the bus was taking transformed into shifting sands.

ROOOOAR!

YELP!

GRAAAH!

The monsters screamed.

That was because, in an instant, more than half of their bodies sank into the sand.

The more the monsters struggled, the deeper they sank.

Perhaps if they were large-class monsters of Grade B or higher, it would be different, but small monsters had a hard time escaping shifting sands.

Unlike Sand Blender, it did not have strong killing power, but when dealing with this many monsters, Quick Sand was an efficient Skill.

The area of shifting sands Zeon created was unbelievably vast.

At least several thousand monsters had sunk into the shifting sands and were floundering.

Some had already sunk into the shifting sands up to their heads and could no longer be seen.

Even if they were buried in sand, they were still monsters, so they would not die easily, but they would not escape easily either.

Once Zeon dealt with the monsters blocking the way in an instant like that, a path opened toward the place where the expeditionary force’s camp had been.

Seeing the armored bus carrying Zeon race forward at terrifying speed, Seo Tae-ran shouted to her subordinates.

“Everyone, get on the bus. We’re following them.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Everyone who had been facing the monsters climbed onto the bus.

The bus carrying them increased its speed and caught up to the bus Zeon’s group was riding.

ROOOOAR!

GRAAAH!

The monsters’ howls could be heard from everywhere.

Briel approached Zeon and asked,

“Why didn’t you kill them? If you used Sand Blender, you could’ve killed all the monsters.”

“I have to manage my mana. The real one is still left, so I can’t waste mana on small-class monsters like those.”

“That’s true too.”

Briel nodded.

The lower-ranked monsters gathered here would scatter on their own once the Kraken was killed.

The problem was the Kraken.

It was located in the Mana Stone Mine, so Zeon’s sand attacks did not work against it.

To catch it, even Zeon had to sharpen his nerves.

That was why Zeon deliberately did not use a Skill that consumed a lot of mana on the lower-ranked monsters.

Because of that, Seo Tae-ran failed to grasp Zeon’s true combat power.

It was unfortunate that she did not directly see powerful Skills like Sand Blender or Sand Storm, but she clearly learned one thing.

‘Not only does he know his ability precisely, but his situational judgment is frighteningly good. He doesn’t force himself to use a powerful Skill. He uses only the Skill that’s exactly necessary at the right time and place. Among the Numbers, only the upper-tier powerhouses possess this kind of ability.’

Seo Tae-ran felt goosebumps climb up her spine.

Zeon was more dangerous than she had vaguely imagined.

Seo Tae-ran thought she had done well coming here personally.

Just seeing Zeon’s combat power was already enough payment for pushing through the rough sand.

The armored bus, which had raced between monsters sunk in shifting sands, finally arrived in front of the place where the expeditionary force’s camp had been.

“What is this?”

“Wow! They fell into this?”

The twin sisters were the first to be horrified.

They had no choice.

At the place where the camp had been, a gigantic fissure had formed, its end impossible to see.

It was an enormous fissure large enough to swallow as many as three thousand four hundred people.

It was so tremendous that one wondered if a fissure like this would form if a gigantic giant reaching the sky had struck down with an axe.

Zeon looked down into the fissure.

A faint membrane could be seen beneath the fissure.

The membrane was preventing those who had fallen from coming back up.

Elder Go recognized the identity of the membrane at once.

“It is definitely a barrier.”

“Can you dispel it?”

“It does not look easy. It will take some time to dispel.”

“You will have to hurry.”

“I was already planning to begin immediately. From now on, this is my time, so step back and watch.”

Elder Go immediately closed his eyes and focused his mind.

Zeon looked at Elder Go for a moment, then said to Seo Tae-ran,

“Please protect Elder Go well.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll go look at the Kraken.”

“Are you going to hunt it right away?”

“I’m just going to scout first.”

“Understood. We’ll wait.”

At Seo Tae-ran’s words, Zeon headed toward the open-pit Mana Stone Mine.

A vast sand field spread out before him.

Ssssss!

Perhaps sensing Zeon’s arrival, an enormous monster silently raised its head.