Chapter 325

Chapter 325

The monster that had hidden most of its body beneath the sand and left only its enormous eyes outside was the Kraken.

Zeon was reflected in the Kraken’s retinas, each one larger than a human.

Zeon met the Kraken’s gaze as well.

The gazes of the enormous monster and the small human clashed in midair.

The Kraken’s eyes as it glared at Zeon were filled with hostility.

It still clearly remembered that Zeon had attacked it.

The Kraken possessed intelligence that could rival a human’s.

It did not forget most memories even after a long time passed.

Moreover, Zeon had attacked it using sand.

There was no way it would forget that grudge.

Ssssss!

Perhaps because the Kraken was writhing beneath the sand, the ground heaved.

It was as if the creature were flaunting that this entire place was its territory.

‘Clever bastard.’

Beneath the sand field where the Kraken had settled was the Mana Stone Mine.

At a glance, there seemed to be an enormous amount of sand, but in truth, there was only enough to submerge the Kraken’s body.

With that much sand, he could not inflict any serious damage on the Kraken.

The Kraken knew that as well, which was why it was provoking Zeon like this.

Zeon used the sand to gauge the Kraken’s size.

‘Just its legs are at least over fifty meters long. Incredible.’

Considering that an octopus had eight legs, the creature’s size was tremendous.

If a monster of this size latched on with its suckers, even Gaia’s mother, Moby Dick, would have a hard fight on its hands.

Such a tremendous monster was hiding beneath the sand.

Zeon and the Kraken glared at each other for quite some time.

After their contest of wills continued for a while, Zeon turned around and returned to where the group was.

His back prickled the entire time he walked.

He could feel the Kraken staring holes into his back.

It seemed as though it might attack at any moment, but the creature did not move even slightly from its nest.

‘So it won’t move for just this much, after all.’

It was smarter than he had thought.

The place Zeon was walking now was a little way from the Mana Stone Mine, an area filled with sand.

If the Kraken had ambushed Zeon, Zeon would have dragged it out instead and counterattacked.

But the Kraken, cunningly enough, seemed to have seen through Zeon’s trap and did not budge.

‘This won’t be easy.’

This type of monster was the most troublesome to deal with.

It would have been better if it charged in blindly while trusting only its strength. When a creature with tremendous ability was also this cautious and intelligent, the one facing it had to spend several times more mental and physical strength.

There was something else to consider as well.

He had to determine whether the fissure that swallowed three thousand four hundred people had been caused by the monster’s authority, or whether it had been a disaster that happened by chance.

If the fissure really had appeared because of the Kraken’s authority, its Grade would have to be reassessed.

When Zeon returned to the fissure, Briel greeted him.

“Welcome back.”

“What about the barrier?”

“He’s still analyzing it.”

Elder Go stood before the fissure and looked down at the barrier.

He seemed to be staring at it blankly, but precise calculations were taking place inside his head.

At that moment, Seo Tae-ran approached Zeon.

“You went to see the Kraken?”

“Yes!”

“How was it?”

“Impressive.”

“Compared to Moby Dick?”

“I’ll have to fight it directly to know.”

“It’s that powerful?”

Seo Tae-ran frowned.

Moby Dick was a monster whose Grade could not be estimated.

If the Kraken was comparable to such a monster, it was surely an existence with tremendous authority.

“It’s a clever one. It’s smart, and it also knows how to grasp its opponent’s capacity.”

“The most troublesome type.”

“First, we have to dispel the barrier and rescue the people. Dealing with that thing comes after.”

“That’s what we should do.”

Seo Tae-ran nodded.

Zeon stared intently at Seo Tae-ran’s face.

“What?”

“I’m curious.”

“About what?”

“The real reason you came all the way here.”

“Obviously, to rescue people.”

“I feel like there’s another reason besides that.”

“There isn’t. Nothing like that.”

Seo Tae-ran answered coldly and walked toward Elder Go.

Briel stuck out her tongue as she watched Seo Tae-ran’s back move away.

“Wow! That lack of manners.”

Zeon also nodded in agreement with Briel’s words.

After returning to Elder Go’s side, Seo Tae-ran gave some order to her subordinates.

It seemed she was telling them to keep a strict watch on the surroundings.

It was then.

ROOOOAR!

GRAAAH!

Suddenly, the roars of monsters rang out.

Looking in the direction the sounds came from, they saw large monsters approaching their location.

Every one of them was a gigantic monster.

“Look at this!”

Zeon’s eyes gleamed sharply.

With monsters of that size, even if Zeon created shifting sands, they could escape easily.

It seemed the Kraken had seen Zeon unfold Quick Sand and deliberately gathered large monsters.

Zeon carefully examined the faces of the approaching monsters.

Every single one had unfocused eyes.

With this, he had confirmed one of the Kraken’s authorities.

“It controls the minds of monsters lower in Grade than itself.”

Among the monsters rushing toward the fissure, there were none above Grade B.

That was proof that the Kraken’s mind control did not work on monsters capable of unfolding force fields.

However, it seemed to work reliably from Grade C and below.

Judging by how blindly they were charging in.

Zeon called the twin sisters and told them to try interfering with the monsters’ minds.

The two sisters focused their minds and approached the monsters’ consciousness. But soon their faces turned deathly pale, and they opened their eyes.

“We got pushed out.”

“Its mind control is so solid we can’t break in.”

Both twin sisters shook their heads.

Zeon stepped in front of them and said,

“It seems the Kraken’s mind control surpasses your abilities.”

“Ugh! I’m pissed.”

“To think we lost to a mere octopus head.”

The twin sisters huffed in frustration.

Even in that moment, the monsters were getting closer and closer.

Zeon raised his control and said,

“Now isn’t the time to complain. We have to stop them from interfering with Elder Go.”

“We know.”

“Don’t worry.”

The twin sisters snorted and prepared for battle.

THUD, THUD, THUD!

The monsters had almost reached them.

At that moment, an enormous gorilla-like monster at the front floated into the air.

ROOOOAR!

The gorilla monster flailed its arms and legs with a bewildered expression, but its floating body showed no sign of coming down.

In that instant, the twin sisters shouted at the same time.

“Go!”

WHOOSH—!

The gorilla monster flew like a bullet and crashed into the other monsters.

GRAAH!

Kugh!

The enormous gorilla monster collided with five or six monsters and rolled across the ground.

Briel looked at Zeon in surprise.

“That’s telekinesis, isn’t it?”

“They’re both outstanding mental-type ability users.”

When one’s mental power developed to a high degree, it became possible to use not only telepathy, but also telekinesis like that.

It would have been stranger if those two, both Grade A Awakened, could not use telekinesis.

Seo Tae-ran’s subordinates also deployed to stop the monsters.

CRASH—!

THUD—!

Seo Tae-ran’s subordinates engaged the enormous monsters in close combat without hesitation.

Zeon watched their battle closely.

Briel asked with a puzzled expression,

“Why?”

“Because it’s strange.”

“Who? Them?”

“Yeah!”

“What about them?”

“It doesn’t seem like they’re going all out.”

“Really?”

At Zeon’s words, Briel looked at Seo Tae-ran’s subordinates again with fresh eyes.

They were fighting a desperate battle against the enormous monsters.

Unlike the twin sisters, they were standing at the front and engaging in hand-to-hand combat.

Their battle was brutal.

Blood sprayed, flesh was torn away, and bones broke in a primitive form of combat.

The monsters struck by Seo Tae-ran’s subordinates screamed and collapsed, while the subordinates themselves also suffered serious damage.

But no matter how severe their wounds were, they did not let out even a single groan.

CRUNCH—!

Even when they were trampled to death under a monster’s enormous foot.

“Could their vocal cords have been removed?”

“That probably isn’t it. They answer Seo Tae-ran when she speaks.”

“Then this is the result of training?”

“Probably......”

“Crazy!”

Briel’s eyes trembled.

She could not imagine what kind of training would make a human not scream even at the moment of death.

“Are they really human?”

“Who knows.”

Zeon’s gaze turned toward Seo Tae-ran.

Seo Tae-ran was standing in front of Elder Go with her arms crossed.

Her stance showed that she would enter the battle at any moment if necessary.

Feeling his gaze, Seo Tae-ran looked at Zeon.

Even in that instant, the battle was becoming more intense.

The battle gradually turned unfavorable for the humans.

Under the monsters’ wave tactics, the humans were being pushed back little by little.

Just as the humans were driven to the edge of the cliff—

“I opened a door.”

Elder Go’s shout rang across the battlefield.

He had finally succeeded in dispelling the barrier.

Instead, he had not completely dispelled it.

As he said, he had merely opened a door just large enough for people to pass through.

Because the situation was too urgent, he could not fully dispel the barrier and had only opened it wide enough for people to enter.

“Hurry! I can’t maintain the door for long.”

At Elder Go’s shout, Seo Tae-ran gave an order to her subordinates.

“Everyone, retreat and enter the door.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

The subordinates, who had not spoken a word while fighting the monsters, answered and retreated.

The door in the barrier was dozens of meters underground from where they stood. Ordinary people would never dare jump in, but there were no ordinary humans here.

With Elder Go in the lead, the twin sisters, Seo Tae-ran and her subordinates, then Briel and Zeon threw themselves one after another through the small door formed in the barrier.

The monsters also threw themselves after them, but the moment Zeon entered, the door disappeared. Elder Go had restored the barrier to its original state.

The monsters that had thrown themselves at the barrier without knowing that slammed into it.

Kraaaah!

The monsters let out desperate screams.

That was because the tremendous power contained in the barrier melted them in an instant.

The monsters disappeared without even getting a proper chance to respond.

“Crazy!”

“If we had just jumped in, would we have ended up like that too?”

The twin sisters shuddered as they looked upward.

They were holding Elder Go’s arms and slowly descending to the ground like feathers.

They were controlling their falling speed with telekinesis.

Beside them, Zeon was holding Briel’s hand and matching their speed. He was supporting his body with sand.

On the other hand, Seo Tae-ran and her subordinates had fallen so deep below that they were no longer visible.

Zeon held Briel’s hand and looked around.

Unlike the surface, which had been covered in sand, the underground was made of solid bedrock.

“It’s Mana Stone.”

“Don’t tell me all of this is Mana Stone?”

Briel and the twin sisters looked at Zeon in shock.

“I’m sure. This is all Mana Stone.”

“All of it?”

“This is insane.”

The twins and Elder Go wore dazed expressions.

What they had seen before was Mana Stone refined from Mana Stone Mines. This was their first time seeing it in its natural form.

“With this amount, Neo Seoul could use it for a thousand years and still have some left.”

“This is a jackpot.”

At Zeon’s words, Elder Go smiled brightly. But his smile did not last long.

That was because as soon as they landed on the ground, countless corpses greeted them.

They were the corpses of the expeditionary force that had come first.

At the horrific sight, everyone froze.