Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Exion changed form freely around Zeon’s fist.

At times, it became an awl and pierced the Chimera snakes. At other times, it became an axe and beheaded them.

He was not given even a moment to catch his breath.

Zeon knew very well that the moment the chain was broken, death would follow. Because of that, he made desperate efforts to keep Exion’s flow from being interrupted.

FLASH!

At that instant, lightning flew at him again.

The special individual had attacked.

It was a Skill called Lightthein, which gathered lightning and attacked a single point.

Lightthein persistently aimed for Zeon.

Zeon made a membrane with Exion and blocked Lightthein.

Fragments of white lightning were blocked by the Exion membrane and scattered in every direction.

KIEEEEK!

KRAAK!

The Chimeras were electrocuted, their flesh bursting apart or burning black.

‘Oh!’

Zeon’s eyes shone.

That was because a good method had come to mind.

Moving and fighting directly by himself was not necessarily the only answer.

Using the enemy’s power was another method.

At that moment, the special individual fired Lightthein again.

Zeon shaped Exion into a membrane and tilted it at an angle.

CRACKLE!

The lightning struck the Exion membrane and scattered in every direction.

Zeon adjusted the angle so the lightning would spread even more effectively.

The area instantly became pandemonium.

Far more Chimera snakes died than when Zeon moved and fought directly.

After its own attacks caused even more Chimera snakes to die several times, the special individual also realized that Zeon had used it. But by then, a path had opened between the special individual and Zeon.

Zeon shortened the distance in an instant and arrived before the special individual.

“Die!”

Zeon concentrated Exion onto his gauntlet and struck.

THUD!

The special individual’s head burst apart.

Zeon moved to find the next special individual.

As he found and destroyed the special individuals that way, sweeping away the surrounding monsters, before he knew it, Zeon was the only one left standing.

“Haa! Haa!”

Zeon leaned against the wall for a moment and breathed roughly.

Because he had poured out all his strength in a short time, a feeling of exhaustion washed over him. But he could not leisurely rest and recover his stamina and mana.

Even at this very moment, Deioden was surely advancing toward the dragon.

If Zeon wanted to be of even the slightest help to him, he too had to keep moving without rest.

Zeon moved again.

The passage stretched on as if it had no end.

Fortunately, this time, no Chimeras appeared. Even so, he did not make the mistake of letting his guard down.

This was, after all, a dragon’s lair.

There was no way its Guardians would be made up of only Chimeras of that level.

Something bigger and stronger was surely waiting ahead.

Zeon checked his physical condition once more.

Fortunately, his condition was not bad.

He still had more stamina left than expected, and his mana was recovering steadily, even if only little by little.

At this level, no matter what enemy he met, he would not be defeated helplessly.

Zeon walked with his senses raised so he could respond at any moment if an enemy appeared. But it was strangely quiet.

It was not that the enemy was not moving. It felt as if there was no enemy at all. Still, Zeon moved carefully without letting his guard down.

After walking like that for a long while, a wide space suddenly appeared before Zeon’s eyes.

It was an enormous circular space, like an ancient Colosseum.

The space, dozens of meters high and hundreds of meters in diameter, was unexpectedly filled with sand.

‘What is this?’

Zeon furrowed his brow.

As a Sandmancer, he naturally should have been pleased to see his greatest weapon scattered everywhere, but Zeon knew very well that things in the world were never that easy.

There was surely a reason why the floor of this enormous Colosseum-like space was filled with sand.

It was when Zeon raised his control and tried to grasp the situation inside the sand.

Sssshhh!

Suddenly, something pushed through the sand and appeared.

“What the hell?”

Startled, Zeon tried to move the sand. But the next instant, his body froze as if he had been cursed.

It was not that he had actually been cursed.

He was simply shocked because the being that emerged from the sand was far too unexpected.

“A woman?”

And a naked woman, without even a single thread of clothing on her body.

Her hair rippled like mysterious blue seaweed, and her snow-white skin shone with a faint glow.

Her large eyes and lips shone red, as if rubies had been ground into them.

A sensual beauty flowed thickly from the woman.

Zeon’s face turned red in an instant.

Zeon had never gone anywhere near a woman since he was born.

He had been so busy surviving that he had never dated a woman, let alone held one’s hand.

He had no resistance to women whatsoever.

On top of that, the woman who had suddenly appeared was perfectly nude, without even a scrap of cloth on her.

Zeon’s eyes lost their place to go and wandered chaotically.

“Uh, uh!”

As if he had truly been cursed, his mind went white, and he could not think of anything.

Even at that moment, the naked woman was approaching Zeon.

The woman smiled as she looked at him.

She was bewitching Zeon with seductive eyes and an alluring expression.

The red light in the woman’s eyes grew deeper, and Zeon stared at her with his mouth hanging open.

To a boy who was not yet an adult, the naked woman was far too powerful a temptation.

Without realizing it, strength entered his lower abdomen, and his lips grew dry.

His two hands lost where to go and flailed in the air.

“Hoho!”

Seeing Zeon like that, the woman laughed as if he were adorable.

That sight drove Zeon even more insane.

He could not think of anything.

The intense desire to embrace that woman filled his entire mind.

This was the first time he had ever felt such powerful desire.

Zeon reached out his hand.

The woman smiled sweetly and took it.

At that instant, it felt as if electricity ran through his whole body.

His desire grew stronger, and the urge to devour the woman quickly tormented him.

As if to tease Zeon, the woman circled around him for a while. Zeon turned his body to follow her.

Before he knew it, his eyes had lost focus.

Only then did the woman come close to Zeon.

So close that their faces nearly touched.

The woman slowly looked into Zeon’s face and moved toward his lips.

Her sweet breath stimulated Zeon’s sense of smell.

Just before they kissed, focus suddenly returned to Zeon’s eyes.

That was because the smell in the woman’s breath had awakened his mind.

The faint fishy stench that came only from dead insects.

It was definitely a smell he had sensed not long ago.

“You’re a Chimera!”

Zeon shouted and struck the woman’s chest with his fist.

CRASH!

With an explosive roar, the woman who had been on the verge of kissing him slid backward. Her face twisted savagely.

“How dare a mere human......”

“Fuck! I almost did that with a Chimera. My first experience, with a thing like a Chimera...... Ugh!”

Zeon trembled all over.

Just imagining it was horrifying.

There was no one else around, but if there had been, he would have been mocked for the rest of his life.

“I won’t forgive you!”

Zeon burst out in rage.

The woman was just as enraged.

“I will kill you.”

SHAAAK!

The woman’s body shot into the air. Then the true form that had been hidden was revealed.

“What the hell? Does that even make sense?”

Zeon’s eyes grew round.

What emerged through the sand was a monster with nine heads—a Hydra. The part Zeon had thought was a woman was actually the Hydra’s tail.

It was a gigantic Chimera made by combining a Hydra and a Succubus.

The Chimera’s name was Kaeshu.

It was one of the Three Great Guardians into which the Gold Dragon Haieltun had poured his heart and soul.

Haieltun had placed the Three Great Guardians at key points in his lair.

Kaeshu was one of them, boasting powerful regenerative ability, poison, and tremendous physical strength.

The scales covering its body held immense anti-magic power, giving it resistance to Magic attacks.

The Hydra was a monster classified as Grade A.

It was not an existence Zeon, who was only Grade C, could do anything about.

“Haa! This is driving me crazy!”

No matter how quickly his abilities had developed recently and how he had reached Grade C, he did not even reach the toes of a Grade A.

The gap between Grade A and Grade B was larger than the gap between Grade C and Grade D.

And his opponent was Grade A, while Zeon was only Grade C.

There existed an enormous gap that effort or grit could never fill.

On top of that, by fusing with a Succubus, it had gained exceptional intelligence and even the Skill called Charm.

The reason Zeon had lost his reason just moments ago and been swept away by desire was that he had been caught by the Succubus’s Charm Skill.

If not for the fishy stench unique to Chimeras, Zeon would have had all his vital essence drained and lost his life.

Through the union of Hydra and Succubus, it had gained tremendous power that was near Grade S despite being Grade A.

He could not even begin to imagine how he should fight such a being.

“Die!”

At that instant, Kaeshu attacked.

The nine heads spat venom.

“Tch!”

Zeon bit his lip and hurriedly dodged.

HISSSS!

The sand touched by the venom melted instantly.

If the venom had struck Zeon directly, he would have ended up the same way.

Just imagining it sent goosebumps up his spine. But at the same time, he saw a faint hope.

That was because he remembered that the vast underground cavity was filled with sand.

The place where Kaeshu, a fusion of Hydra and Succubus, existed was above sand.

Sand was his essence and his weapon.

Although the difference in grade was vast, this changed the story.

“Good! Let’s do this.”

SNAP!

Zeon snapped his fingers.

GRRRRIND!

The sand began rotating at high speed around the Hydra.

He had used Sand Blender.

GRRRAAASH!

Coarse grains of sand scraped across the Hydra’s surface at terrifying speed. But not a single wound appeared on the Hydra’s scales.

That was because the force field possessed only by monsters Grade B and above was protecting the Hydra.

Far from wounding the Hydra, Sand Blender only fanned its rage.

KROOOAR!

The nine heads rushed to attack Zeon, competing with one another.

Zeon detonated Claymore in front of him.

BAAANG!

With the explosion, thousands of sand spheres clumped together like steel balls struck the Hydra’s heads.

It was a Skill with enough power to send most Awakened to their deaths in one blow. But it was not enough to stop the Hydra.

RUMBLE!

The Hydra’s heads appeared through the drifting sand dust.

“Damn it!”

Zeon hurriedly used Sand Walk.

SNAP!

One of the Hydra’s heads bit down on the place where he had been standing.

If he had been even a little late in dodging, he would have been torn apart by those enormous teeth.

The nine heads competed with one another to attack Zeon.

Zeon used Sand Missile and Claymore in succession.

BOBOBOOM!

With explosive roars, dense dust rose.

But not a scratch appeared on Kaeshu’s gigantic heads.

‘What should I do?’

Zeon desperately racked his brain while avoiding Kaeshu’s attacks.

It was a despairing situation, but he believed that as long as he did not give up, there had to be some way to reverse the situation.

“Hoho! Die.”

The Succubus fused to the Hydra’s tail laughed at Zeon.

At that instant, Zeon’s eyes shone.

‘Does that woman have the same durability as the Hydra?’

The Hydra was covered in scales of tremendous strength, but the Succubus was nothing but a naked body, without anything covering her.

‘In that case......’

Zeon changed his target.

Behind the Succubus, soldiers made of sand rose silently.

While Zeon drew the Hydra and Succubus’s attention, ten Sand Soldiers moved.

The Sand Soldiers stealthily attacked the Succubus.

“Kyaaaak!”

At the unexpected attack, the Succubus screamed.