Chapter 48

Chapter 48

The Succubus suffered fairly deep wounds from the Sand Soldiers’ attacks.

For a monster, the Succubus was sensitive to wounds.

Perhaps it was because the Succubus was female.

In any case, for Zeon, it was an excellent opportunity.

Now that he had confirmed the Succubus was Kaeshu’s only weakness, it was time to focus his attacks.

“Haaah!”

Zeon fired Sand Missile at the Succubus and detonated Claymore. Then Kaeshu coiled its body and protected the Succubus.

THUDTHUDTHUDTHUD!

Zeon’s attacks were blocked by Kaeshu’s hard scales and came to nothing. But Zeon was not disappointed.

He had already expected this much.

If there was one thing he had felt and learned most keenly while following Deioden, it was the ability to draw a larger picture.

To begin a battle after already drawing in his mind how it would end, then proceed through each step.

Thanks to the trials Deioden had given him, Zeon had learned how to lead battles in a direction favorable to himself.

‘The first step is blocking the vision of the nine heads.’

PUHAAAK!

At that instant, the sand on the ground where Kaeshu had placed its body scattered into the air all at once.

The sand dust rose thickly and blocked Kaeshu’s vision.

Kaeshu was protecting its whole body with a force field, but it instinctively closed its eyes against the thick sand dust.

At that instant, Zeon disappeared.

That was the second step of the picture he had drawn: concealment.

Zeon swam through the sand and moved inside Kaeshu’s coiled body.

Even then, Kaeshu did not notice Zeon’s movement.

That was because the Sand Soldiers were attacking from outside, distracting Kaeshu.

That was the third step Zeon had drawn.

Sssshhh!

Zeon quietly broke through the sand and revealed himself.

He was inside Kaeshu’s coils.

The Succubus opened her eyes wide in shock at Zeon’s sudden appearance.

At that instant, Zeon used Claymore.

BAAANG!

With an explosive roar, countless sand spheres swept over the Succubus.

“Kyaaaak!”

The Succubus screamed at the powerful explosion.

For a moment, the force field covering her body scattered.

Zeon did not miss that opening and used Sand Blaster.

Sand Blaster, which sprayed sand at high pressure, displayed even greater power in narrow gaps.

PUHAAAK!

High-pressure sand fired into a single point and struck the Succubus.

A large hole was blasted clean through the Succubus’s abdomen. But the Succubus fused with the Chimera did not die.

Rather, aided by Kaeshu’s terrifying regenerative ability, her wound rapidly healed.

She raised her lowered head and shouted venomously,

“Did you think I would die from just this much?”

“I know. I know you wouldn’t.”

“What?”

Zeon’s voice came from right in front of the Succubus.

When the Succubus hurriedly raised her head, she saw Zeon standing directly before her.

After firing Sand Blaster, he had used Sand Walk to approach within arm’s reach.

This was the sixth step of the picture Zeon had drawn.

And the final seventh step.

Zeon activated Sand Blender together with Exion.

Sand Blender was powerful even when used normally, but with Exion, its power doubled.

However, Exion was not infinite, so spreading it over a vast area was impossible. But if he limited it to a small target like the Succubus, the story changed.

GRRRRIND!

The sand containing Exion rotated at terrifying speed.

“Kyaaaaaak!”

The Succubus let out a dreadful scream.

Her flesh was ground away by the sand. Her smooth skin vanished in an instant, revealing raw red flesh beneath.

The Succubus tried to recover with the Hydra’s unique super-regeneration, but Sand Blender gave her no chance.

KROOOAR!

Belatedly, Kaeshu’s nine heads sensed the Succubus’s danger and lifted themselves.

The nine heads surged toward her at terrifying speed to protect the Succubus.

At that moment, Zeon snapped his fingers and murmured,

SNAP!

“Self-destruct! Sand Soldiers.”

At that instant, the ten Sand Soldiers exploded all at once in midair.

This too was a Skill Zeon had recently realized.

After realizing that a Sand Soldier’s self-destruct attack could inflict major damage on a monster, he had practiced it tirelessly, and today was the first time he had used it.

BAAANG!

KROOOAR!

The power of the self-destruct attack was so tremendous that the heads of an enormous monster like Kaeshu were flung in different directions.

In the meantime, Zeon used Sand Blender to grind the Succubus down to the bone.

The Succubus screamed for her life, but her voice was buried beneath the sound of the sand rotating at high speed and could not be heard.

Zeon’s complexion was pale.

That was because he had used all his mana in an instant.

Sand Blender, summoning and self-destructing Sand Soldiers, Claymore—all of them were Skills that consumed enormous amounts of mana. Since he had used such Skills one after another, it was only natural that his mana had hit bottom.

But Zeon had Elura’s Tear.

A fraudulent item that restored all his mana once per day.

Zeon used Elura’s Tear to instantly recover the mana that had been depleted.

GRRRAAASH!

In an instant, the Succubus was erased.

Kaeshu’s nine heads, which had been flung away by the Sand Soldiers’ self-destruct attacks, glared at Zeon.

Although Haieltun had forcibly fused them together, the Succubus’s death was more than enough to enrage Kaeshu, whose body and mind had still been bound as one with hers.

Kaeshu’s heads each emitted a different light.

‘Round two.’

It sounded nice to call it round two, but in truth, the real fight began now.

The only thing he could hope for was that, since he had removed the Succubus that served as the brain, Kaeshu’s responses might not be as sharp as before.

But contrary to Zeon’s expectations, the heads used a Skill with one will.

RUMBLE!

Suddenly, the air grew heavy, and tremendous pressure crushed down on Zeon.

Under the immense pressure, even the sand clouds floating in the air were driven down to the ground all at once.

“Gravity...... control?”

Zeon’s face twisted.

Gravity control was one of the most difficult and powerful Skills among countless Skills.

Because of that, there were almost no Awakened in Neo Seoul who could handle it. Of course, their power was not even comparable to Kaeshu’s.

Kaeshu was increasing gravity throughout the entire vast underground cavity.

It felt as if three or four times the usual pressure was crushing Zeon.

Meanwhile, one of Kaeshu’s heads held flames in its mouth.

Zeon immediately realized the identity of the Skill it was about to use.

“Breath?”

It might not be as powerful as a dragon’s, but reducing one person like Zeon to ashes would likely be nothing.

Zeon desperately racked his brain.

Then his eyes caught sight of Kaeshu’s severed tail.

The place where the Succubus had been fused until moments ago.

Without needing to think any further, Zeon launched himself toward Kaeshu’s tail.

The tremendous pressure crushed down on him, but with Exion protecting him, he could move somehow.

The moment Zeon reached the tail, the overwhelmingly hot Breath swept over the place where he had been standing.

ROOOOAR!

Under the tremendous heat, the sand beneath Kaeshu’s feet melted in an instant.

Without thinking further, Zeon burrowed into Kaeshu’s severed tail.

GRRRAAASH!

He rotated the Exion wrapped around his whole body like a drill.

Kaeshu’s flesh was ground away from the inside of its tail.

Kaeshu went on a rampage from the tremendous pain.

BAAANG! BAAANG!

The nine heads crashed into the walls or tangled with one another.

No matter how Kaeshu had been reborn as a Chimera, it was not incapable of feeling pain.

Haieltun had prided himself on creating an optimal combination, but fusion with the Succubus had done nothing more than create a weakness.

In tremendous pain, Kaeshu swung its tail wildly and slammed it against the walls.

Zeon was swung around with it as well. Even so, he did not lose his balance until the end and controlled Exion.

ROOOOAR!

Zeon burrowed deeper into the inside of Kaeshu’s tail at even greater speed.

Then one of Kaeshu’s heads, unable to endure the pain, bit down on its own tail.

CRUNCH!

Its enormous teeth sank into the tail.

Even the force field wrapped around its body was useless.

That was because it had wounded itself.

In the meantime, Zeon avoided Kaeshu’s teeth and burrowed even deeper.

Now, he had passed through the tail and entered the main body.

Even its scales, which possessed tremendous defensive power, could not protect Kaeshu.

GRRRAAASH!

Zeon rotated Exion with all his strength.

An enormous amount of mana was consumed, but he gritted his teeth and endured.

If he could not endure here, Kaeshu would kill him.

If a Grade C like him wanted to kill Kaeshu, a monster close to Grade S, he had no choice but to destroy it from the inside.

This was the final step Zeon had thought of to bring down Kaeshu.

Immense pressure crushed down on Zeon.

Kaeshu was tightening its muscles and compressing him. Even so, Zeon gritted his teeth and pushed forward.

Under the crushing pressure, the capillaries in his eyes burst, and the muscles throughout his body twisted. Still, Zeon did not stop advancing.

He did not know how far he had advanced.

Now, Zeon had reached his limit.

The mana he had recovered through Elura’s Tear had hit bottom again, and even his body, trained so powerfully, was creaking.

The speed of Exion, which had been spinning fiercely, had slowed noticeably, and Zeon’s steps had also become visibly slower.

Even so, Zeon did not stop advancing.

Because of excessive mana operation and the limits of his stamina, Zeon’s body was gradually collapsing.

On top of that, Kaeshu’s blood contained potent toxins, accelerating his collapse.

His flesh rotted away, his bones were exposed, and terrible pain crashed over him.

The very act of moving was hell.

Even so, Zeon did not give up.

If he could breathe, he could move.

If he could move, stopping was not permitted.

As he moved one difficult step at a time, something suddenly entered his eyes.

A round object as large as an adult’s torso, emitting a dazzling light.

Zeon immediately realized what the round object was.

‘The Hydra’s Mana Stone?’

Rarely, Mana Stones also emerged from monsters.

Unlike Mana Stones mined from Mana Stone mines, Mana Stones that emerged from monsters sometimes contained that monster’s energy.

Because of that, there were occasional cases where someone absorbed the energy of a Mana Stone that came from a monster and obtained a Skill.

Naturally, the higher the monster’s grade, the higher the chance that a Mana Stone containing a good Skill would emerge. But that probability was so abysmal that it was almost unheard of for an Awakened to obtain a Mana Stone containing a good Skill.

He did not know whether the Mana Stone before him contained a Skill. But Zeon had no other way.

Zeon reached out toward the Mana Stone. Then pain far greater than anything he had felt until now surged over him.

“Kraaaagh!”

Zeon screamed and writhed.

Through the hand touching the Mana Stone, tremendous energy surged in like a tidal wave.

The fiery hot energy tore through Zeon’s insides.

Zeon had no strength left to control the foreign energy.

“Kraaaagh!”

Zeon rolled his eyes back and screamed.

It felt as if his entire body were burning.

He wanted to take his hand off the Mana Stone, but it would not move, as if stuck to a magnet.

With his hand still attached, Zeon lost consciousness.

Even after he fainted, tremendous energy continued pouring from the Mana Stone into his body.

He did not know how much time had passed like that.

The Mana Stone lost its light, and the energy pouring into Zeon disappeared as well.

It was then that a change occurred in Zeon, who had been lying unmoving as if dead.

The rotten flesh fell away, and new flesh grew in its place.

Color returned to his face, which had turned black, and his heart, which had stopped, began beating again.

Zeon gasped for breath and opened his eyes.

“Puhah! I didn’t die?”

Still sprawled on the ground, Zeon checked the condition of his body.

His depleted mana had been completely filled, and every wound that had exposed even his bones had returned to its original state. Not only that, vitality overflowed through his entire body.

His wrist itched.

Zeon took off his gauntlet while lying down. Then he saw light shining from the sixth line of his Rank Insignia.

“What? I skipped Grade B and went straight to Grade A?”

Zeon was stunned by the enormous change that had happened to him.

He felt tremendous energy, as if there were a volcano inside his body.

If his previous mana had been a lake, now it felt as if he held the sea within him.

This was the Hydra that the Gold Dragon Haieltun had chosen as a Guardian.

Naturally, it was a special individual, and it had been armed with tremendous Skills such as super-regeneration, gravity control, and Breath.

Zeon realized that among them, he had obtained the ability of super-regeneration.

The fact that every wound that had exposed his bones had healed was proof.

He had not obtained gravity control or Breath because they were incompatible, but super-regeneration alone was more than enough to satisfy him.

“Does this mean misfortune turned into a blessing?”