Chapter 375

Chapter 375

The sun was clearly blazing, yet a chill could be felt.

Not only the human Awakened, but even the Dark Elves trembled as every hair on their bodies stood on end and chills ran down their spines.

“What in the world?”

“Who is that man......?”

All of them were warriors who had spent their entire lives struggling in the desert.

They were people with powerful fighting spirits, the kind who would not blink at most incidents and would not back down even when faced with enormous large monsters. But even they froze the moment they saw the man and could not move.

They had been overwhelmed by the strange atmosphere flowing from him.

Even Levin, floating in the air, and Briel turned pale and could not do anything.

The only one who could move freely was Zeon.

Zeon’s body rose into the air.

The sand lifted his body.

Zeon stopped at the same height as the man.

The man shook his head slightly and muttered,

“You really don’t listen worth a damn. Well, confidence is good, but you should know who you’re dealing with.”

BOOM—!

Before the man had even finished speaking, an explosion erupted from Zeon.

An invisible force had attacked Zeon.

Shockwave(Shockwave).

It was an offensive Magic the man had unleashed.

It was an offensive Magic of tremendous power.

Shockwave, which displayed especially tremendous power against humans, was not a Magic that could be cast easily.

That was because the stronger its power, the more delay occurred before activation. But the man had unleashed Shockwave easily, without any warning signs.

It was impossible for an ordinary human.

The man was certain Zeon must have suffered a wound that was far from light. But the moment he saw Zeon, the smile on his lips vanished.

Because Zeon was far too unharmed.

He did not look as if he had taken any damage at all, nor did he look flustered.

He was looking at the man with an indifferent expression, like a cow staring at a chicken.

At the sight of Zeon like that, the man felt his blood run cold.

“I see. So you’re still a Sandmancer. To think you canceled out Shockwave by vibrating sand in that brief instant.”

Shockwave was a sonic attack.

The best way to extinguish a sonic attack was to generate a frequency in a similar range and cancel it out. And in that brief instant, Zeon had vibrated sand grains to generate sound waves.

It was a reaction speed so tremendous it was hard to believe he was human.

The man pushed back his hood and said,

“My name is Cullinan. What is yours?”

“Zeon.”

“Good! Zeon. You have the qualifications to converse with me.”

Cullinan, who had removed his hood, raised his head and looked at Zeon.

He was a handsome man with smooth facial lines, as if sculpted from porcelain.

His deep blond hair, golden eyes, and pointed ears stood out especially clearly.

Zeon saw through his identity at a glance.

“You’re an elf.”

“I was an elf.”

“Are you denying your past?”

“You should say my present has changed.”

“You were born an elf, but you are not one now? Is that how I should understand it?”

“You’re quite clever for a human.”

Cullinan looked genuinely impressed.

“I’ve heard that a lot, Lord Cullinan.”

“A Sandmancer. You may take pride in yourself. Even in Kurayan, no such Awakened existed.”

“Thank you.”

“There’s no need to thank me. You’ll die by my hand anyway.”

“Before that, let me ask one thing. You’re the one who gave Chuangka the bone necklace, aren’t you?”

“So you’re the one who killed that old orc.”

Zeon had confirmed Cullinan’s existence through the bone necklace, and Cullinan had chased after the one who killed Chuangka.

In a way, it was inevitable that the two would meet.

Cullinan glared at Har and the spirit visible behind Zeon. To be precise, he was drooling over the spirit.

“I should thank you. Thanks to you killing that old orc, I discovered a spirit like this.”

“Yuri should already be connected to Har by soul, yet you’re still being greedy. Isn’t that a little lacking in business ethics?”

“I can simply sever a connection of the soul. Hand over that spirit, and I will leave quietly. Then I’ll spare your life at least.”

“Seeing you reminds me of someone.”

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

“Nigel, the half-demon dragon!”

“......”

“So you do know him. I only threw that out there.”

Zeon’s eyes shone coldly.

Cullinan and Nigel strangely resembled each other.

Their races, physiques, and presences had nothing in common, yet strangely, they reminded him of one another.

Cullinan’s golden eyes gleamed fiercely.

“How do you know Nigel? No, where did you see him?”

“What is your relationship with Nigel?”

“Answer me, human! Before I tear you limb from limb.”

“You answer my question first.”

“An impudent human dares run his mouth before whom?”

“A mutant elf?”

“What?”

“Like Nigel, you must have changed for some reason too. Could that have something to do with a purple gem?”

“......”

Cullinan no longer spoke.

That alone was enough of an answer for Zeon.

Nigel, the half-demon dragon, had also spoken like Cullinan.

He had said he was a dragon.

In the past tense.

In truth, he had abandoned the mighty body of a dragon and chosen to become a half-demon dragon.

Under normal circumstances, that should have been impossible.

For a single individual to cast off the framework of its species and be reborn as a new existence by its own power.

If such a thing had been possible, the dragon Haieltun whom Deioden faced would have cast off his form long ago as well.

It was something even Haieltun could not accomplish with pure ability.

Then Nigel and Cullinan should not have been able to do it either.

Because one could not say their pure ability surpassed Haieltun’s. Yet they had done it, which meant there was no choice but to think they had received help from some special item or existence.

What came to mind then was Pilgram, the Necromancer.

Though he had been killed by Nigel, Pilgram also possessed power so immense it was abnormal.

The undead he controlled were all things that transcended common sense.

Nigel had retrieved the purple gem from Pilgram’s chest. That was why Zeon thought it.

That purple gem must have given Pilgram that abnormally powerful strength. Otherwise, there was no reason Nigel would have appeared personally to retrieve the purple gem.

In the end, the conclusion converged into one.

The purple gem was the problem.

Those who held the gem gained power that transcended the limits of their species.

Zeon asked,

“The purple gem. Is it related to Crasias?”

“You really are hard to deal with. Just how much do you know?”

“Nigel said it. Do you really believe Crasias is dead? A powerful being like Nigel wouldn’t have said something like that carelessly, so in the end, that gem must be related to Crasias.”

“You’re clever. Among all the humans I have seen until now, you are by far the best.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“It is not a compliment. It is a declaration that I will kill you.”

“I see.”

Even at Cullinan’s words that he would kill him, Zeon answered calmly. As if it had nothing to do with him at all.

Cullinan’s golden eyebrows twitched.

Because he did not like Zeon’s attitude.

Cullinan was an elf who had crossed over from Kurayan.

Even in Kurayan, almost no one knew of his existence. That was because he had lived for such a long time that almost no one who remembered him remained.

Even after crossing over to Earth, he lived alone.

As he grew old, his desires disappeared, and he came to hate troublesome things.

Interacting with other elves was bothersome too. So he wandered the desert alone and lived that way.

Then one day, a turning point in his fate came.

He obtained the purple gem Zeon had mentioned.

That day, he transcended the limits of the species called elf and was reborn.

Just like Nigel had.

Originally, Cullinan was not very greedy. But after embracing the purple gem, greed seethed within him.

If something pleased him, he had to possess it before he was satisfied, and if something displeased him, he destroyed it thoroughly.

That was also why he had given Chuangka the bone necklace.

To make Chuangka and the orcs stronger and have them destroy the things he disliked, he had given them the bone necklace containing a portion of his authority. But his intention had been crushed by Zeon.

Because of that, he did not feel kindly toward Zeon.

“You broke my toy, so I shall take something precious from you as well.”

“If you can, by all means......”

“You are arrogant. You certainly have enough qualification to be. But even then, you should know who you are facing.”

“Do you know something?”

“What?”

“Nigel said exactly the same thing as you. He was talkative, just like you. Looking down on people beneath his feet as if he had become a god, he spoke like that. It seems that gem makes people excessively self-important.”

“Impudent!”

Cullinan’s lips twitched.

Zeon’s provocation had gotten under his skin.

In that instant, golden eye-glow burst from his eyes, and Shockwave erupted again.

CRAAANG—!

“Argh!”

“Aaagh!”

At the intense sonic attack, everyone in the Black Forest clutched their ears and collapsed.

Ringing echoed in their ears, and their brains vibrated as though they had become bells.

Because of that, they could not come to their senses.

Even Floa’s eyes lost focus, and drool streamed from her mouth. Even though she had not been struck directly by Shockwave.

This time too, Zeon vibrated sand grains and shattered Shockwave. But his expression was not very bright.

Even so, he had taken no small shock.

His insides churned, and blood surged upward.

The tremendous impact had shaken his organs.

At that moment, Cullinan shot high into the sky.

Cullinan, having reached a height where the Black Forest looked like an ant, muttered,

“I’ll destroy it all at once. Wide Area Spallation[Wide Area Spallation].”

Whoooom!

Sound rang out.

The space around the Black Forest howled.

It was as if the entire Black Forest had entered a giant bell, with sound surrounding it.

The sound overlapped and amplified dozens, hundreds of times over.

A sound that could not be heard by the ears struck the Black Forest.

“Aaaargh!”

“S-save me......”

Every living creature in the Black Forest screamed.

Their insides were boiling.

As though they had been placed inside a microwave, the moisture within their bodies reacted to the external sound waves and boiled.

If even several dozen more seconds passed like this, every living creature’s body would burst apart.

At that moment, Zeon moved.

“Chaaat!”

Along with his shout, the sand on the ground surged upward.

Wooooom!

The hazy sand grains collided with one another and vibrated.

It was the method he had used to defend against Shockwave, applied over a wide area.

Sound devoured sound, and the sound waves that had made the entire Black Forest boil vanished.

Thanks to that, silence briefly settled over the Black Forest.

A look of bewilderment appeared on Cullinan’s face.

It was a sight he had not expected at all.

But it was still too early to be surprised.

The real surprise began now.

―Beeep!

A large whale poked its head out into the empty sky where nothing had been.

Gaia had finally awakened from sleep.

Having digested the Reaper’s Scythe, Gaia had grown several times larger than before.

Gaia lifted its head and looked at Cullinan.

―Beeep?

“He’s our enemy.”

―Beeep!

Gaia’s eyes turned fierce.

When Zeon climbed onto its back, Gaia shot upward at terrifying speed.

Cullinan’s face rapidly enlarged.

Zeon raised his control.

Rooooar!

Sand swirled and pushed Gaia upward at even more frightening speed.

An elf who had transcended the limits of his species?

So what?

“Just because you were born as a new species doesn’t mean blood no longer flows through you.”

Zeon, one with Gaia, charged toward Cullinan at terrifying speed.