Chapter 368

Chapter 368

Zeon quickly identified the source of the déjà vu.

“This is definitely a place I came to with Deioden.”

When he had just Awakened, back when he was still a greenhorn, he had once passed near this place with Deioden. That was why it looked familiar.

There was no moment in Zeon’s life that did not remain in his memory, but among them, the memories of the time he had spent with Deioden were especially vivid.

That was how much had happened, and how many places they had gone together.

The place Zeon was looking at now was one of the places he had visited with Deioden back then.

The desert changed almost every day, but there were also landscapes that did not change easily.

Such things were bound to serve as signposts.

The huge cactus now in Zeon’s field of vision was one such signpost.

Its seven branches stretching toward the sky looked like a person spread-eagled.

Only its size had grown much larger; its shape was exactly as it had been in Zeon’s memory.

“You survived well without being eaten by monsters.”

Among monsters, there were also herbivorous ones. The cactus contained a deadly poison so strong that even those creatures had not dared touch it.

It had survived until now because its thorns hid a vicious poison capable of melting even monsters.

“This way should have......”

“What is it?”

Briel, who had finally managed to peel the Dark Elf children away from herself, asked with a puzzled expression.

“I remembered something. If everyone’s rested enough, let’s get moving. If we walk diligently, we should be able to arrive before sunset.”

“Where?”

“You’ll know when we get there. I don’t know if it’s still there, though......”

“Huh?”

Briel blinked her large eyes.

Zeon playfully pressed down on Briel’s pointed hat, then told everyone they were leaving.

The Dark Elves, who had been enjoying a sweet rest, stood up immediately without a single complaint.

That was the strength of the Dark Elves.

They obeyed the leader’s orders absolutely and did not hesitate.

Zeon was not their lord or leader, but at least on this journey, they recognized him as someone they absolutely had to follow.

That was why they obeyed Zeon’s orders without complaint.

Zeon revived his old memories and set their direction.

Until now, Zeon had always acted cautiously.

He checked whether there were monsters nearby and moved only through safe areas, so their speed had no choice but to be slow. But now Zeon was moving without hesitation.

To keep up with Zeon moving by Sand Walk, the Dark Elves had to use Wind Walk.

Briel also followed behind Zeon using Wind Walk.

Now Briel could use Wind Walk skillfully.

Levin, flying through the air in Ghost Transformation, muttered,

“She’s improved a lot. As expected, putting people through the wringer is the answer. If you put them through enough, they’re bound to improve.”

Whether it was himself or Briel, they were developing at frightening speed in proportion to how harshly Zeon pushed them.

Levin resolved that once they returned to Neo Seoul, he would put his friends Aaron and Dominic through the wringer as well.

If the two had heard it, they would have had fits.

Before he knew it, Levin was beginning to resemble Zeon too.

At that moment, a strange sight entered Levin’s eyes.

“Huh?”

For a moment, he rubbed his eyes, wondering if he had seen things.

That was how foreign the scenery visible far ahead looked. But no matter how much he rubbed his eyes, the scenery did not change.

“Hyung, do you see that? There’s a forest in the middle of the desert.”

“It’s the Black Forest.”

“Pardon?”

“The Black Forest! The home of the Goya Clan.”

“The Goya Clan? Then there are people living there?”

“Yes!”

Zeon nodded.

The pitch-black area embedded like a dot in the middle of the yellow desert was the Black Forest.

It was a place Zeon had briefly visited a very long time ago.

A mysterious place where trees had been carbonized and preserved in a fossil-like state.

For more than a hundred years, the Black Forest had maintained its complete form. But now the Black Forest was on the verge of being trampled.

Roooaaar!

Kaooo!

Huge monsters were attacking the Black Forest.

One was a giant gorilla that boasted muscles that looked ready to explode. The other was a beast with long fangs jutting out like blades, an impressive Saber-Toothed Tiger.

In the air, even a flock of griffins circled, watching for an opportunity to attack.

In the Black Forest, about a dozen people were engaged in a fierce battle against the monsters.

“Stop the Armored Gorilla.”

“Damn it! How could you let the Saber-Toothed Tiger run free?”

They swung their weapons and blocked the monsters’ assault.

At the center of them was a man dressed like a hunter.

He fired arrows at the griffins and shouted,

“Watch out for the griffins. If they catch you, it’s over.”

One griffin was struck in the shoulder by the hunter’s arrow and let out an enraged cry.

At the cry of their kin, the griffins attacked even more ferociously.

A look of despair appeared on the hunter’s face.

“Are we collapsing like this? No! We can’t. We have to hold on, even for Har’s sake.”

The hunter’s name was Go Du-won.

He was the master of the Black Forest.

Originally, he had lived in the Black Forest with only his daughter, Go Har. The Goya Clan who had once been with them had thought Go Du-won was chasing a futile dream and left the forest.

But as change came to the carbonized forest, the people who had left gathered again and formed a community.

That hard-won community was now on the verge of collapsing under the monsters’ assault.

The Armored Gorilla, just as its name suggested, protected its entire body with armor made of metal. Because of that, the attacks of Go Du-won and the Awakened did not work.

The Saber-Toothed Tiger was so swift that their attacks did not land at all.

The even greater problem was the flock of griffins circling overhead like a flock of crows. The creatures circled through the air, constantly looking for an opportunity to attack.

Already, more than three Awakened had been snatched away by them.

They had been torn to pieces and entered the griffins’ bellies.

After witnessing the gruesome end of their comrades, the Awakened’s morale scraped the bottom.

Everyone knew that at this rate, they would not last much longer and would be annihilated. But they had no particularly sharp solution.

“Damn it! Change had only just begun......”

Go Du-won clenched his fists tightly.

His bloodshot eyes looked as though tears might fall from them at any moment.

Kieee!

At that moment, one griffin plunged toward Go Du-won like an arrow.

Go Du-won belatedly tried to shoot an arrow at it, but by then, the griffin had already reached right in front of him.

He could see its sharp teeth and claws.

‘Is this the end?’

Just as he was about to close his eyes, a change occurred.

THUD!

With a dull impact, the griffin’s head burst apart right in front of him.

The headless griffin barely passed Go Du-won and crashed into a black, carbonized tree.

Go Du-won clutched his startled heart and hurriedly looked around.

“Who?”

At that moment, his eyes caught sight of a group running toward the Black Forest from far away.

They were all Dark Elves with black skin.

At their head was a man who looked out of place.

A man moving over the sand as if gliding.

Go Du-won recognized the man’s identity at once.

“Zeon?”

There were many Awakened in the desert, but there was only one man who moved over sand like that.

Zeon, the Sandmancer.

The young boy who had been led by Deioden’s hand to the Black Forest long ago had returned, now grown beyond recognition.

Swish-swish-swish!

Behind Zeon’s back, countless sand snakes rose and intercepted the griffins in the air.

Boom-boom-boom!

Graaah!

Kiek!

The griffins struck by Sand Viper scattered with screams.

Levin leapt into the middle of the scattering flock of griffins.

Flash!

Purple lightning electrocuted the griffins in a chain.

The sight of griffins falling like autumn leaves felt unreal.

The Dark Elves following behind Zeon attacked the Armored Gorilla and the Saber-Toothed Tiger.

The Dark Elves were skilled hunters.

They efficiently assaulted the two giant monsters.

“Attack the legs. We have to take away their mobility first.”

Under Floa’s command, the Dark Elves attacked the Armored Gorilla and Saber-Toothed Tiger.

Slash!

Graaaah!

As the tendons in its legs were cut, the Armored Gorilla let out a cry of pain.

It boasted tremendous defensive power, with armor covering its entire body. But the Dark Elves focused their attacks on its arms and legs, where there was no armor.

The Armored Gorilla tried to attack the Dark Elves by swinging its limbs, which were thicker than logs, but it was useless.

With its slow movements, it could not even catch the shadows of the Dark Elves.

Under the Dark Elves’ ruthless assault, the Armored Gorilla was gradually brought down.

The Saber-Toothed Tiger’s condition was even more miserable than the Armored Gorilla’s.

Four Dark Elves had climbed onto its back and were driving their swords into it.

The Saber-Toothed Tiger’s hide was so tough and hard that it could deflect most spears and blades, but unfortunately, the Dark Elves’ swords were sharp enough to pierce its hide like tofu.

Squelch! Squelch!

Kuaaaeng!

The Saber-Toothed Tiger let out a mournful scream and collapsed.

“What is this?”

“Why are elves helping us?”

The Awakened fighting alongside Go Du-won only blinked, unable to understand what was happening.

The relationship between elves living in the desert and humans was not very good. In particular, the relationship between Dark Elves and humans was the worst.

Dark Elves were hostile to humans, and humans, whenever they saw especially black Dark Elves, spat first and called them unlucky.

Naturally, they had never imagined receiving help from Dark Elves, let alone interacting with them. Yet for some reason, the Dark Elves were helping them.

It all felt like a dream.

In the meantime, Zeon arrived before Go Du-won.

Go Du-won looked up at Zeon.

In the past, Zeon had been the one who had to look up at him, but now the situation had changed. That was how much Zeon had grown.

Go Du-won opened his mouth first.

“Ze......on, right?”

“Yes! It’s been a long time.”

“How are you here?”

“How is Har?”

“Har is...... It would be better to show you after the situation is settled.”

“Did something happen?”

“You’ll understand when you see it yourself. More importantly, how are you with the Dark Elves?”

Go Du-won looked at the Dark Elves facing the monsters with a confused expression.

The giant monsters were collapsing beneath the Dark Elves’ wave-like offensive.

Zeon answered calmly,

“They were looking for a place to migrate.”

“Huh! To think you’d help Dark Elves. Deioden would give you hell if he knew.”

“That won’t happen.”

“Why?”

“Because he is no longer of this world.”

“I...... see.”

“Well, he beat a dragon to death just as he wished before he left, so there’s no need to make that face.”

“He really was an incredible man. To think he truly killed a dragon.”

Go Du-won shook his head.

Among those who had met Deioden, there was no one who did not know of his grudge toward dragons. But no one believed it would actually be possible for him to kill a dragon.

That was how powerful dragons were.

To think he had finally hunted down an existence that no one could even imagine being killed by human hands.

Deioden’s obsession was beyond even admiration.

It was then.

Graaaah!

With the Armored Gorilla’s scream as the last sound, the monster hunt ended.

The Saber-Toothed Tiger had already stopped breathing, and the griffins circling in the air had all fled, terrified by Levin’s power.

Levin stopped chasing the griffins and landed beside Zeon.

“This is a fascinating place. I had no idea a place like this existed.”

Levin looked around the Black Forest with an expression full of curiosity.

Then, in his field of vision, he saw Briel approaching a carbonized tree as if her soul had left her body.

“Good...... heavens!”

Briel’s voice trembled faintly.

When Briel reached the tree and checked something, she collapsed onto the ground.

Levin hurriedly approached her and asked,

“What’s wrong?”

“A dead tree is growing l-leaves.”

“What?”

Levin looked at the place Briel’s finger was pointing.

From the black tree trunk, carbonized like metal, a green sprout was shyly showing itself.

“Fuck!”