Chapter 62

Chapter 62

Three days had passed since Zeon entered the Mana Stone Mine city.

During that time, Zeon had done nothing in particular.

He walked through the streets or sat in alleys, watching people pass by.

To anyone watching, it looked like the daily life of an unemployed man with nothing to do.

It was the exact opposite of the busy scenery of the Mana Stone Mine city.

At first, there had been people who looked at Zeon with displeasure. But since they knew Cha Dong-seok’s subordinates had been smashed by Zeon, no one rashly picked a fight with him.

At least Neo Seoul had some minimal regulations. In the Mana Stone Mine, even that did not apply.

The Mana Stone Mine was a place where the strong trampling the weak and taking everything from them was tolerated.

People recognized Zeon as one of the strong.

They did not know the true extent of his martial power, but it was at least certain that he was stronger than Cha Dong-seok.

A martial-type Awakened of at least Grade D.

Grade D might not sound like much, but even if one searched all of Neo Seoul, there were not even a thousand of them. They were a precious force.

Considering that most of the Awakened dispatched to the Mana Stone Mine were Grade E or Grade F, it was easy to see just how valuable they were.

Thanks to that, Zeon was able to live comfortably.

“Did you rest well?”

On the third day, Mandy came to see him.

Perhaps because she had rested and eaten well, Mandy’s face was full of vitality.

“Thanks to you...... You look well too.”

“Thanks to you too.”

“Seeing as you came looking for me, it must be time to leave.”

“You are exactly right. There is an armored bus heading to Neo Seoul in thirty minutes. We will be taking that bus.”

“Is it carrying Mana Stones?”

“Yes! It seems all the Mana Stones have been gathered, and they are sending them to Neo Seoul.”

Mana Stones were Neo Seoul’s most important resource.

Every facility in Neo Seoul ran on energy extracted from Mana Stones.

Because of that, Mana Stones had to be supplied regularly.

The place that played the greatest role in supplying Mana Stones was this mining city. Once the Mana Stones mined by the miners at the risk of their lives reached a certain amount, they were loaded onto an armored bus and sent to Neo Seoul.

As it happened, today was the day the Mana Stones gathered until now would be sent to Neo Seoul.

Zeon nodded.

“That worked out well.”

“If the timing had not matched, we would have had to wait at least another week. We are quite lucky.”

Mandy could not hide her excitement.

Zeon thought even the Mana Stone Mine was part of the civilized world, but not Mandy.

To her, who was used to life in Neo Seoul, the Mana Stone Mine was no different from a remote countryside village.

She wanted to enter Neo Seoul as soon as possible and fully enjoy the benefits of civilization.

“Take this.”

She held something out to Zeon.

“What is it?”

“It is a temporary access pass.”

“An access pass? Then I can enter Neo Seoul?”

“Yes! It is temporary, but entry is possible. Only for one month, though. After that, you will either have to obtain formal citizenship or find another method.”

“Well, that is enough.”

Zeon accepted the access pass and examined it closely.

The access pass, made of an unidentified metal, had Magic engraved into it.

It was something Eloy had pressured the general manager of the Mana Stone Mine into giving her.

It would have been impossible for the courteous Mandy, but for Eloy, who was no different from an outlaw, it was not difficult.

Once Eloy recovered her strength, she caused a scene, and the exhausted general manager gave her a temporary access pass.

Mandy smiled and said,

“Let’s go to the bus.”

“Let’s.”

Zeon rose and followed her.

The two headed side by side toward the vacant lot.

A large armored bus was waiting in the vacant lot.

The bus was covered in all kinds of armor to protect it from monster attacks, making it look like a patchwork rag.

It was far from stylish, but for safety, it was an unavoidable choice.

Railings and gun mounts had been installed on the roof of the armored bus, and five Awakened were riding on top.

Awakened had been placed there in preparation for attacks from monsters and Scavengers.

The rear of the armored bus was packed full of boxes containing Mana Stones, while the front held miners returning to Neo Seoul.

The miners’ faces were full of excitement as they returned to Neo Seoul for the first time in a while.

“Over here.”

When Zeon and Mandy boarded the bus, Kim Sang-sik, who had been seated in advance, waved his hand.

Like Mandy, color had returned to Kim Sang-sik’s face.

He offered the two empty seats beside him.

“You can sit here.”

“Thank you.”

“I will.”

The two thanked him and sat down.

Zeon sat by the window, and Mandy sat by the aisle.

Once they boarded, the armored bus slowly began moving.

The enormous gate of the Mana Stone Mine city opened, and at last, the armored bus emerged into the desert.

The moment they left the gate, the air itself changed.

Hotter, more stifling air pushed into the vehicle.

The inside of the armored bus, which did not even have air conditioning, quickly grew hot with heat. Even so, not a single person complained.

Everyone was satisfied simply by the fact that they could travel by armored bus.

It was that kind of era.

Everything people had once enjoyed as a matter of course was now something only those with power and money could enjoy.

To the people living in the slums, air conditioning was an object from the realm of imagination.

Zeon leaned his head against the window and looked outside.

Then Mandy spoke to Zeon.

“By the way, do you have a place to stay?”

“There is a house I used to live in.”

“If you have been away for a long time, other people may be living there.”

There were no empty houses in the slums.

The moment someone vacated a place, someone else took it over.

No matter how much one claimed it was one’s own, it was useless.

There was no landowner, and there was no deed to the house.

Most of the buildings had been built haphazardly from the beginning, and whenever the population increased, safety was ignored as more extensions were added, making them resemble ant nests. Even so, there were always not enough houses.

Zeon smiled.

“It does not matter. I can just take it back.”

“Instead of going through that, how about simply entering Neo Seoul? You can live there for a month first and look for a way afterward.”

“I will think about it slowly.”

“Yes!”

Mandy looked at Zeon’s profile.

‘Maybe because he lived in the desert for so long, he does not want a crowded place.’

Somehow, she felt she could understand Zeon.

Mandy gave up on persuading Zeon and buried herself deep in her seat.

The ride was so terrible that she could feel every vibration from the floor. Even so, she was grateful.

If they could go on like this without anything happening, they would reach Neo Seoul around evening.

Mandy closed her eyes just like that.

Since she had nothing to do anyway, she intended to sleep.

Before long, she fell into a deep sleep.

She did not know how long she had slept.

RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!

Mandy unconsciously opened her eyes at the faint vibration she felt through her hips and back.

‘What is it?’

It was too strong to think of it as the bus’s vibration.

Then Zeon spoke, as if he had been waiting.

“You are awake. I was just about to wake you.”

“Why? Did something happen?”

“Look over there.”

Zeon pointed outside the window.

Mandy opened her eyes wide and looked where Zeon pointed. But all she saw was the distant horizon, and nothing in particular looked strange.

Zeon said,

“You will see it if you wait five minutes.”

“What?”

Mandy knew very well that Zeon was not the sort of person to say pointless things, so she patiently looked outside the window.

Just as Zeon had said, five minutes later, Mandy was able to understand the true identity of the vibration she had felt through her hips and back.

“What is that?”

Beyond the horizon, an enormous cloud of dust was rising.

The dust cloud was rapidly approaching the armored bus.

Zeon said,

“They are monsters. It looks like a pack of Flame Wolves.”

“Damn it!”

Mandy hurriedly rose from her seat.

If that dust cloud truly had been caused by a pack of Flame Wolves, just as Zeon said, then the armored bus was in danger.

Flame Wolves were raiders of the desert.

They possessed the habits of both wolves and hyenas.

Once they targeted prey, they chased it to the end and clung to it until it died.

What made them most dangerous of all was the fact that they roamed in packs.

Once they captured prey, they devoured even the bones, so if one was caught by them, one disappeared without leaving even a trace.

Because of that, even high-ranking Awakened were reluctant to face Flame Wolves.

Mandy shouted,

“It is a pack of Flame Wolves. Prepare yourselves!”

At her shout, the Awakened lounging leisurely on the roof of the bus sprang up in shock.

“Flame Wolves?”

“Fuck!”

“It is real. A pack of Flame Wolves is charging at us.”

The Awakened soon discovered the Flame Wolf pack as well.

Far in the distance, a pack of Flame Wolves was truly charging toward them like mad.

There were so many that they could not even count them properly. At this scale, there had to be thousands.

It was Mandy’s first time seeing a pack of Flame Wolves of this size.

At the sight of the Flame Wolf pack’s charge, which radiated even madness, the Awakened naturally revealed their fear.

“Insane!”

“Run at full speed.”

“Fuck!”

Sensing danger, the bus driver floored the accelerator.

The armored bus raced across the desert at tremendous speed. But the distance from the Flame Wolf pack did not widen at all. Instead, it shrank rapidly.

Zeon murmured,

“They will catch up soon.”

Once the Flame Wolf pack marked the armored bus as prey, there was no chance they would give up on their own.

Zeon had faced them before, so he knew very well how tenacious they were.

“Damn it! I am finally going home after so long, and now monsters?”

“Ugh!”

When the miners fell into panic, Mandy shouted,

“If you want to live, everyone pick up a pickaxe. I am telling you to strike down the ones that shove their heads in.”

Even at her shout, the miners could not pull themselves together.

At that instant, Mandy’s eyes changed.

“Tch! Useless things.”

Eloy, Mandy’s other personality, had popped out.

She glanced at Zeon and said,

“Do not blame Mandy. This is a crisis, after all. If you do not like it, then you step in.”

“Did I say anything?”

“Tch! Annoying.”

Eloy pouted and took out Mad Gumiho from behind her waist.

KROOOOAR!

At that moment, the howl of the Flame Wolves rang out loudly.

Before anyone knew it, the Flame Wolf pack had drawn near.

Flames were wavering from the Flame Wolves’ mouths and tails. That was where the name Flame Wolf had come from.

The Flame Wolves that had approached the rear of the armored bus opened their mouths wide. Then streams of fire shot out.

“Block them!”

“Haaah!”

The Awakened riding on the roof of the armored bus used Skills to block the Flame Wolves’ attacks. But because there were so many Flame Wolves, it was impossible to stop every attack.

In the end, flames struck the armored bus.

BAAANG!

With an explosive roar, the armored bus shook violently.

It endured only because its entire surface was covered in thick armor. If it had been an ordinary bus, it would have already melted under the tremendous heat.

“These sons of bitches......”

“Die!”

The Awakened poured out their Skills.

YELP!

KROONG!

The Flame Wolves struck by the Skills screamed and collapsed. But the moment empty spots opened, other Flame Wolves filled them.

That was when Eloy climbed onto the roof of the bus.

“You sons of bitches! I will kill every last one of you.”

Without delay, she swung Mad Gumiho.

CRAAAAASH!

Dozens of Flame Wolves died from a single one of her attacks. But because there were so many Flame Wolves, it barely showed.

“Damn it! What the hell was Neo Seoul doing until the Flame Wolves gathered in a pack this huge? Those useless bastards!”

Even as Eloy cursed Neo Seoul, she ran wild. But with only her and the Awakened, it was impossible to block all the Flame Wolves.

The Flame Wolves clung to the armored bus.

They shoved their heads through the small windows and tried to bite the people inside. In fact, several people were bitten by Flame Wolves and vanished before they could resist in any way.

“Kraaaagh!”

“Save me!”

Their screams came from outside the window, then soon disappeared.

A Flame Wolf’s head also entered the seat where Zeon was sitting.

“Tch!”

BAAANG!

Zeon clicked his tongue and lightly swung his fist.

The head of the Flame Wolf that had clung desperately to the armored bus burst apart.

Zeon looked out the window.

Far away, he saw a gigantic being looking this way.

A monster as large as ten Flame Wolves combined. It was clearly the Flame Wolf Alpha.

It was emitting a presence on an entirely different level from the other Flame Wolves.

The terrifying heat emitted by the Alpha heated the air around it. The heat haze rising above its shoulders proved that fact.

AWOOOOOO!

It released Fear.

The Fear crossed space and shook the bus Zeon was riding in.

“Grrgh!”

“Ugh!”

The miners inside the bus screamed and collapsed.

Their eardrums had burst, and blood was flowing from their ears.

Watching that sight, Zeon furrowed his brow.

“You dog bastard! You are hurting my ears......”