Chapter 58

Chapter 58

Mandy thought of herself as an ordinary human.

That was only natural, because when she was young, her appearance had been no different from anyone else’s.

Even back then, people had told her she was pretty, but in any case, she had not gone beyond the bounds of being human.

Mandy realized she was a half-elf only after her secondary sex characteristics appeared.

After that, elven traits began to show.

One of them was her ears.

They were not completely pointed like an elf’s, but they were not blunt like a human’s either.

They looked exactly like a mixture of the two.

After that, Mandy began to question her own identity. And then she learned the truth.

Her mother had been raped by an elf, and afterward, she had conceived Mandy.

Thinking of herself as the seed of misfortune, Mandy shrank in on herself and became more and more introverted.

She grew extremely sensitive to other people’s gazes and ate away at herself day after day.

Eloy was created to protect her.

Another personality had formed.

The disposition of the newly appeared Eloy was the complete opposite of Mandy’s.

Eloy was rough and violent, like a monster.

If she considered someone an enemy, she charged in without looking ahead or behind and tore out their throat.

Because of Eloy’s destructive nature, many problems occurred.

As the situation grew worse and worse, Mandy’s personality, which had been hiding beneath the surface until then, raised its head.

She stepped forward to calm Eloy, and as a result, she became far more active than before.

Mandy made an agreement with Eloy.

In Neo Seoul, Mandy’s personality would mainly act, while Eloy would act when there was no need to worry about other people’s gazes.

Eloy judged that now was the time for her to act.

Before she knew it, a spear was in her hand.

It was no ordinary spear.

It was an item excavated from a dungeon.

A weapon with tremendous power that had the function of automatically summoning itself to its owner.

The nine-pronged spearhead resembled a Gumiho with nine tails.

That was why the spear’s name was also Mad Gumiho.

Mad Gumiho was a weapon passed down as a legend even in Kurayan.

Perhaps it was fate that such a weapon had come into Eloy’s hands.

Because Eloy had inherited elven blood, even if only half.

WOOOONG!

Mad Gumiho was vibrating in Eloy’s hand.

It was responding to her fighting spirit.

Eloy grinned and said,

“What will you do? Do you want to be torn to pieces and become monster feed? Or will you obediently listen to me?”

“If I don’t listen, I become monster feed?”

“Hoho! Why are you asking something so obvious? Oh, there is a third option too.”

“What is it?”

“Kill that bastard, and you and I can have that kind of relationship. Then everyone might end up happy.”

The “bastard” she was talking about was Kim Sang-sik, who was riding the Bactrian Camel.

Kim Sang-sik understood that too, and his face turned deathly pale.

“W-why would you kill me? I didn’t do anything.”

“You learned Mandy’s secret.”

“I won’t tell anyone. I will absolutely keep it secret.”

“Come on! Who would believe that? It’s cleaner to just kill you and shut your mouth.”

“Please spare me.”

Kim Sang-sik got down from the Bactrian Camel and knelt.

He could not even dream of running away.

Even if he fled, he would soon be caught, so it was better to beg.

Kim Sang-sik looked at Eloy with tears and snot running down his face.

At that, Eloy snorted.

“How unlucky. A grown man sniveling like that......”

Her gaze turned back to Zeon.

“What should I do for you? Choose. This is your share.”

“I don’t like any of them. I think it would be better to talk to Mandy instead. Please call her out.”

“That won’t do. That girl is too soft-hearted.”

“Still, I would like to meet her. What do I have to do to meet her?”

“It’s simple! Beat me. If I get beaten to a pulp, she’ll come out. Of course, that won’t happen.”

“That’s simple. Fortunately.”

“Are you confident you can beat me?”

“There’s something I’m curious about. Are you acting that arrogant just because you trust that spear?”

“What?”

“Other than being a half-elf, you don’t seem that special, but you seem far too confident.”

At Zeon’s smiling words, Eloy’s expression hardened.

She gripped Mad Gumiho and said,

“Fuck! I tried speaking nicely, and now you’re getting cocky without knowing your place. You only come to your senses after getting beaten.”

“I agree.”

“Haa! I’ll tear that mouth apart. You son of a bitch!”

Eloy’s anger exploded.

She swung Mad Gumiho.

At that instant, illusions of spears made of mana appeared in the air.

It was one of her Skills, Rain Spear.

The power of Rain Spear unleashed through Mad Gumiho was tremendous.

CRASHCRASHCRASH!

The sand where Rain Spear struck exploded repeatedly, as if a volcano had erupted.

Sand shot up like pillars, then scattered in every direction, completely overturning the area. Yet Zeon was nowhere to be seen.

Eloy’s eyes flashed as she searched for Zeon.

Soon, she found him.

Zeon had already moved twenty meters to the left.

There was not a single wound from the spear on him.

“Petty tricks......”

Eloy charged at Zeon like the wind.

Mad Gumiho stretched out and thrust toward Zeon.

Just before he was pierced, Zeon swung his gauntleted fist.

CLANG—!

With a metallic sound, Mad Gumiho was deflected.

“What?”

Eloy was startled.

As befitting an item excavated from a dungeon, Mad Gumiho possessed tremendous piercing power.

Most weapons or armor could be torn apart like paper. Yet a mere gauntlet, which looked like nothing special, had blocked Mad Gumiho.

“So that must be an item obtained from a dungeon too.”

“A friend made it for me.”

“Fuck! A mere human made something like that?”

“You’re half human too. Aren’t you looking down on humans a little too much?”

Zeon smiled faintly.

Eloy had every reason to be baffled.

The gauntlet he was wearing had been made by Calei, whom he had met long ago.

When the Red Dragon’s Eye was combined with the masterpiece created by Calei, the rare Enchanter, it had evolved into the Ultra-Heat Gauntlet.

The Ultra-Heat Gauntlet had become an entirely different item from when Calei first made it.

Its power was by no means inferior to Mad Gumiho.

“Die!”

Eloy flew into a frenzy.

She swung her spear like mad and took something from inside her clothes, scattering it around Zeon.

It was a kind of trap.

A trap made in Neo Seoul to hunt monsters.

Naturally, it was no ordinary item.

If there was a lifeform containing mana in the area, it pulled the target in with terrifying suction and bound them.

Once caught in the trap, even the strongest monster could not move for a moment.

Eloy scattered more than ten such traps.

With that, all of Zeon’s escape routes were blocked.

She attacked Zeon without restraint. But all her attacks were blocked by Zeon’s gauntlet.

CLANGCLANGCLANG!

Sparks flew with metallic sounds.

Eloy charged forward and attacked, while Zeon retreated and defended.

Charging forward was easier than retreating. It also allowed one to put more force into the attack, making it more powerful.

Naturally, the side charging forward had to be at an advantage.

Eloy thought the same. But the situation unfolded in the exact opposite way.

Zeon slid backward as if hanging from an invisible thread, and even with Eloy’s speed, it was hard to catch up to him.

What enraged her even more was that Zeon had not used a single Skill yet and was observing her every move.

As if he were measuring the level of her true ability.

“You son of a bitch, where do you think......”

Eloy flew into a rage and swung Mad Gumiho.

Each time she did, Skills of tremendous power poured toward Zeon.

CRAAASH!

Sand burst apart, and blade-like winds swept in every direction.

Zeon’s hair also scattered in the wind. But the eyes hidden behind his hair did not tremble in the slightest.

Mad Gumiho split into nine.

They were not illusions. It had truly become nine.

When Eloy gestured, the nine spears rose high into the air.

From the mana connecting the nine spears, an extremely intense light burst out.

“Die! Nine Spear Strike.”

Eloy’s strongest Skill unfolded.

Zeon’s retinas filled with clusters of light.

Suddenly, a smile appeared on his lips.

“This is fun.”

It had been a very long time since he had met someone who bared their teeth and attacked him like this.

After his battle with Leviathan far to the south, most monsters had avoided Zeon outright.

Because of that, there had almost never been a chance to fight properly until now.

Seeing an opponent charge at him with full strength after so long made him feel rather pleased.

Zeon infused mana into the Ultra-Heat Gauntlet and unleashed a strike.

FWOOSH!

At that instant, flames surged from the Ultra-Heat Gauntlet.

The red flames spun like a waterspout and flew forward, colliding with Nine Spear Strike.

CRAAAAASH!

“Ghk!”

A stifled groan flowed from Eloy’s mouth. Her face had turned white from the powerful shock.

Far from knocking Zeon down, she had instead been damaged by the backlash.

The nine spears were flung away in different directions, and through them, Zeon could be seen charging toward her.

The red-hot gauntlet drew her eye with unusual intensity.

For a brief moment, she thought the red jewel shining on the back of his hand looked like the eye of a gigantic monster.

In the meantime, Zeon reached Eloy’s immediate vicinity and threw a powerful punch.

BAAANG!

“Guh!”

Eloy screamed and was flung backward.

Fortunately, she had crossed her arms to block the attack. If her reaction had been even a little late, her chest bones might have been crushed inward completely.

Her arms felt as if they might break. But Zeon’s attack was not over yet.

CRACK!

His knee struck her face.

This time, she could not even scream.

Her nose broke, and her mind grew distant. Even so, Eloy somehow tried to gather herself and counterattack.

But Zeon did not let her.

BAAANG!

Zeon’s fist struck her abdomen.

Eloy vomited everything in her stomach and rolled across the ground.

“Fuck!”

Eloy reached out her hand.

Mad Gumiho was summoned and caught in her grasp. But she could not swing Mad Gumiho.

That was because Zeon pressed his knee down on her chest and grabbed her wrist with a powerful hand.

Eloy gritted her teeth and tried to shake off Zeon’s arm, but it was useless.

Still pressing her down, Zeon opened his mouth.

“Call Mandy.”

“Fuck you!”

BAAANG!

At that instant, Zeon’s fist struck Eloy’s face.

Her cheekbone broke, and blood sprayed.

“I said call Mandy.”

“Ghh!”

“If you don’t want to die......”

Eloy glared at Zeon with venom-filled eyes. But the moment she met Zeon’s eyes, she swallowed dryly without realizing it.

‘What kind of eyes......’

Dry black eyes from which no emotion could be read.

It felt as if she were looking not at a human’s eyes, but at a monster’s.

“I’ll say this one last time. Choose. Die as Eloy, or bring Mandy out.”

“Damn...... it!”

With those words, Eloy’s expression changed in an instant.

The rebellious air vanished completely, and a face full of fear appeared.

It was Mandy.

“Sniff......”

Mandy shed tears that fell one after another. Looking at Mandy like that, Zeon smiled.

“Now we can finally have a conversation.”