Chapter 332

Chapter 332

Two thousand three hundred.

That was the number of people who had survived to the very end.

In that hellish underground space, as many as eleven hundred people had died.

Many Awakened had died as well, but the casualties among the Mechanics and ordinary people who had come as support were several times greater.

The Awakened had tried to protect them too, but the situation had been so urgent that they could not protect everyone.

The Mechanics were just as important as the Awakened.

Even in Neo Seoul, raising a proper Mechanic required tremendous effort.

Without them, they could not have brought the vehicles all the way to this distant place. It would probably take a great deal of time to train people to replace them.

Seo Tae-ran secretly clenched her teeth.

‘More time will be wasted.’

It was the situation she hated most.

The beings they had put so much effort into raising had been sacrificed in vain.

Awakened did not necessarily have to be raised by City Hall.

If promising talent appeared, the various districts, guilds, or raid parties would recruit and raise them.

City Hall only needed to use those people when necessary.

But Mechanics were different.

It took a long time to understand and handle precision machinery.

Only after studying and working hard for a long time could someone finally be born as a Mechanic.

That was why the other districts did not particularly raise Mechanics.

They believed it was better to spend that time raising the talent their own districts needed.

But Mechanics were absolutely necessary.

They were like the lubricant of Neo Seoul.

That was why City Hall took full responsibility for raising them. And now, more than two hundred of those painstakingly raised people had been killed.

It was an enormous loss of blood.

Seo Tae-ran looked at the darkness undulating ahead and muttered,

“I’ll make sure this debt is repaid.”

It was a massive cave where a red, sticky liquid like blood dripped down.

Perhaps it really was blood.

The reek of blood was thick in the air. Still, she hoped it was not, because the amount of blood was simply too great.

She could not even imagine how many living beings would have to be wrung dry for that much blood to flow down.

Even if they gathered all the blood of the expedition members who had died here, it would not amount to that much.

At that moment, Old Man Go placed a hand on Seo Tae-ran’s shoulder.

“Calm down.”

“I’m not agitated.”

Seo Tae-ran answered in a cold voice.

“It does not seem that way. This is the first time I have seen you shaken to this degree.”

“What is it you want to say?”

“We need to escape.”

“There’s a monster inside there that caused this disaster.”

“Can you handle it?”

“That’s…….”

“It is a Necromancer. A kind of enemy we are facing for the first time. If we go in there without any information about the enemy, there is no telling how great the damage will be.”

“We’ve already gathered enough information so far, haven’t we?”

“Do you truly think so?”

“…….”

“Tae-ran.”

“I said I understand, so don’t call me that.”

Seo Tae-ran raised her voice for the first time.

Only then had she regained her reason.

Old Man Go patted Seo Tae-ran’s shoulder once, then returned to Zeon.

“I believe we should break the barrier now and escape. What do you think?”

“I think the same.”

Zeon answered at once.

The unknown enemy was a Necromancer.

If he truly came out with a battle of numbers, this many people would only become obstacles. Worse, the dead would become enemies and merely increase his forces.

Old Man Go nodded and said,

“This barrier has the trait of growing stronger the more blood it absorbs. If not now, we may not be able to open it at all.”

“Do you need help?”

“Thanks to you buying time, I have almost figured out the structure of the barrier. I should be able to release it temporarily.”

“That’s a relief.”

“The problem is that the Necromancer inside there will never just stand by and watch.”

Old Man Go looked at the cave where blood flowed.

Just looking at it made his entire body grow cold and tremble.

His body was reacting to the presence of the Necromancer inside.

He did not know its grade, but the malice alone was being transmitted with astonishing clarity.

From somewhere unseen, the bastard was watching this place right now.

The moment Old Man Go released the barrier, it would move.

Zeon said calmly,

“Do it anyway.”

“Understood.”

At Zeon’s firm answer, Old Man Go nodded.

His expression seemed somewhat relieved.

Zeon gestured and called Jang Yong-beom over.

“What?”

“Have you recovered some of your strength?”

“To some extent.”

“What about the others?”

“Not everyone, but they should have recovered enough to fight. Why?”

“The moment Old Man Go releases the barrier, everyone will escape. The problem is that moment will be…….”

“The most dangerous moment, right? I understand. I’ll tell the other raid party leaders as well.”

Jang Yong-beom immediately understood what Zeon meant.

If the Necromancer attacked with all his strength, ordinary Awakened would have a hard time facing him.

It would be better for powerful Awakened like the raid party leaders to stand at the front. That would reduce the damage.

Normally, they kept one another in check according to their own interests, but they were not foolish enough to weigh profit and loss like that in the face of a shared crisis.

More than anything, they had lost countless subordinates and were burning with rage.

“Good! We’ll step forward.”

“We’ll stop them from the front.”

“This is the first time I’m matching my rhythm with you bastards.”

The leaders of the various raid parties exchanged glances and stepped to the front of the Awakened.

Seeing that, Levin said to Aaron and Dominic,

“It’ll start soon, so stay behind me.”

“Whew! Sorry. We’re putting you in danger because of us……”

“Me too……”

At their apologies, Levin gave a small laugh.

“Forget it. Just keep your heads on straight.”

“Yeah!”

“Got it.”

Aaron and Dominic focused their minds.

At that moment, Old Man Go, who had been concentrating, began to work on the barrier in earnest.

Beside Old Man Go, who had closed his eyes and started releasing the barrier, the twin sisters helped him.

This was the moment when the three of them were most vulnerable.

Knowing that, Eloy and many other Awakened guarded the area around them closely.

Crackle!

Sparks flew from the barrier.

It was rejecting Old Man Go’s interference.

That was the signal.

Ruuumble!

From the cave that had been silent until now, blood suddenly began to churn.

The Necromancer, having sensed the abnormality in the barrier, had begun to move.

Thud, thud, thud!

A violent vibration came from deep inside the cave.

The leaders of each raid party shouted.

“It’s coming.”

“Get ready!”

“Fuck! It’s been a while, so let’s do some proper tanking.”

At that moment, something enormous appeared through the darkness.

Kuwaaaaah!

A tremendous roar swept through the underground space.

In an instant, many of the Awakened in the underground space were struck by the impact and staggered.

Jang Yong-beom and the other raid party leaders widened their eyes in shock.

“A drake?”

“But it’s nothing but bones?”

What appeared from the darkness was unmistakably a drake. But it had only a blackened skeleton, with no scales, muscles, or membrane to be seen.

It was a Bone Drake, with nothing but bones remaining.

“Insane! He turned a drake into a Bone Drake?”

Jang Yong-beom muttered as he gripped Claymore tightly.

An ominous, pitch-black aura flowed from the black Bone Drake.

That meant it was at least Grade B or higher.

But something emitting that much overwhelming aura could not be merely Grade B.

“At minimum, it’s Grade A.”

“Fuck!”

“Ghh!”

BOOM!

At that moment, the Bone Drake collided head-on with the raid party leaders.

Under that tremendous mass attack, the Grade A Awakened were all sent flying like bowling pins.

“Ghk!”

Only Jang Yong-beom, who had become Grade S, withstood the tremendous mass attack. But his complexion had gone pale, and he did not look well.

If they were the same grade, a monster with greater mass was naturally far stronger. If a powerful supernatural ability was added on top of that, the gap widened even more.

Bone Drakes were undead by nature.

They did not die easily.

That difference was enormous.

Enough that even Jang Yong-beom, a Grade S, found it difficult.

Craaaack!

While he was struggling in a contest of strength, the raid party leaders who had regained their senses rose and charged at the Bone Drake.

“Fuck! This is embarrassing……”

“Crush it!”

“Yaaah!”

BOOM! BOOM!

They attacked the Bone Drake with all their might.

But the situation was not good.

Swoosh!

The Bone Drake’s aura attacked them like tentacles.

Because they had to attack while dodging the tentacle-like aura, it naturally required several times more effort.

It was such a vicious fight that Awakened below Grade B could not even dare to join.

Seo Tae-ran said to Zeon,

“Aren’t you going to participate?”

“Do you think there’s only one of those?”

“Surely not?”

“Yes.”

Zeon nodded and looked ahead.

Thud, thud, thud, thud!

As if proving his guess, another monster burst out from the darkness.

It, too, was a Bone Drake wrapped in black aura.

Even then, Zeon did not step forward.

Seo Tae-ran’s face twisted.

The fact that Zeon still did not move even after a second Bone Drake had appeared meant there was one more.

Without needing to think any further, she shouted,

“Everyone, release the second-stage seal and stop that thing!”

“Yes!”

At the same time as they answered, her subordinates’ suits were all torn apart.

The moment the second-stage seal was released, their bodies grew nearly twice as large.

They had been wearing specially made suits beneath their formal clothes.

The suits expanded along with their bodies.

A clear aura radiated from every part of her subordinates’ bodies.

They attacked the Bone Drake with fists and feet imbued with aura. That did not mean they could bring the Bone Drake down, but they were still able to slow its advance a little.

It was a level of power that had not been seen at the first stage.

‘An output above Grade A. The second-stage seal release seems to act as a booster.’

Zeon saw through the nature of the second-stage seal at once.

Normally, he would have been greatly surprised, but right now, he had no room for that.

Ssssss!

A terribly ominous sound came from behind the Bone Drakes.

‘That one is the real thing.’

The Bone Drakes were dangerous, but the truly terrifying one was the monster quietly approaching from behind them.

At last, the creature that appeared like an emperor fully revealed itself.

At that moment, everyone there froze.

“Nine heads?”

“That’s a Hydra, right?”

“Good God!”

The Awakened watching from the rear ranks shouted in shock.

The enormous monster crawling leisurely forward while swaying its nine heads was unmistakably a Hydra.

And one with nothing but bones remaining: a Bone Hydra.

With the appearance of the Bone Hydra, which exuded an atmosphere powerful enough to seem like two Bone Drakes combined, all the Awakened froze.

Zeon walked toward the Bone Hydra and muttered,

“I didn’t think I’d end up facing a Hydra here again. Even if it is undead.”

Kaeshu, one of Haieltun’s Three Great Guardians.

She had been one of the worst Chimeras, created by combining a Hydra and a Succubus.

Thanks to that, the Grade A Hydra had possessed power close to Grade S.

But this one was different.

A pure Hydra had been turned into a Bone Hydra, and it had been reborn as a pure Grade S monster, one at the very top of that grade.

Those nine heads each spat Breath with different properties.

If even one of them fell among the Awakened, a catastrophe would unfold.

Zeon said to Briel,

“The moment the barrier opens, leave with Levin.”

“But……”

“That’s how you help me.”

“All right!”

Seeing Zeon’s hardened expression, Briel nodded.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Even in that moment, the battle between the Bone Drakes and the Awakened grew fiercer.

The aftershocks of the fight gradually began to affect the Awakened as well.

Even then, Old Man Go was concentrating and releasing the barrier.

Passing between the two drakes, Zeon said to Jang Yong-beom and the raid party leaders,

“You should also bring them down, or leave when the barrier is released.”

“What about you?”

“I still have something left to do.”

Leaving only those words behind, Zeon disappeared between the two drakes.

The Bone Drakes’ tentacles attacked, but not a single one touched Zeon.

After passing the Bone Drakes like that, Zeon finally stood before the Bone Hydra.

The Bone Hydra looked down at the tiny living being, not even one-hundredth of its size, as though it found him ridiculous.

The corner of Zeon’s mouth twisted upward.

“How arrogant……”

At that moment, the sand piled on the floor moved and formed a massive wall behind Zeon.

It completely cut off the space where the Awakened were.

The Bone Drakes still remained, but that was a problem they would have to handle themselves. Zeon could not solve even that for them.

Ssssss!

The Bone Hydra flicked its tongue.

It was an expression of confidence that it could break a mere sand wall like that at any time.

Zeon smiled as well.

Sssss!

At that moment, the sand began to boil and turned into something like lava.

The sand wall that had melted into a viscous mass soon hardened and became solid.

“You still think you can break it easily?”

Zeon said with a smile.