Chapter 82

Chapter 82

Goran’s face hardened terribly.

That was because Zeon’s mocking words had touched his pride.

“Hah! The arrogance of a young bastard reaches the sky.”

“I do have a talent for being arrogant.”

“Yes! It seems you do. That makes me even angrier. I feel like I’ll only be satisfied after tearing off all four of your limbs and killing you.”

Goran’s voice was thick with killing intent.

After taking control of Shinchon, this was the first time he had ever been driven into such a corner.

More than anything, what enraged him most was that this entire situation, which he had believed he was leading, was actually under Zeon’s control.

Goran knew.

The truly terrifying ones were those who controlled the situation like this.

He had to cut Zeon down completely before he grew any bigger.

Goran cracked his neck from side to side and said,

“You’re the first bastard who’s ever made me this serious. So consider it an honor to die by my hand.”

SWISH!

At that instant, a vajra shot out silently from behind Zeon.

The place the vajra aimed for was precisely Zeon’s waist.

It intended to sever his spine in one blow and render him powerless.

But just before the vajra touched him, Zeon’s body slid sideways. He had used Sand Walk to avoid the attack.

“Damn it!”

At that instant, along with a curse, a man with an ice-cold expression appeared from empty air.

The man was Taeo, one of Goran’s close aides.

“Tch!”

Goran clicked his tongue.

That was because the trap he had laid with such confidence had come to nothing.

He had prepared Taeo in case of an emergency.

Taeo was a martial-type Awakened specialized in assassination.

On top of that, Ava had cast illusion magic and perfectly hidden his presence.

The reason Goran had rambled on uselessly with Zeon was to scatter his attention.

But as if he had known in advance, Zeon easily avoided Taeo’s surprise attack.

Now that it had come to this, they had no choice but to use their full strength to kill Zeon.

“Chaaat!”

“Hah!”

Taeo and Ava attacked Zeon.

Zeon used Sand Walk and retreated.

The place he retreated to was near the beds where the people having their blood drawn were lying.

“Now!”

BOOM!

At that instant, along with Goran’s shout, a person lying on one of the beds exploded.

In the short time since entering this place, Goran had turned several of the people lying on the beds into human bombs in preparation for an emergency.

Zeon, caught in the explosion, was flung backward.

Taeo charged at Zeon, and Ava cast magic. Goran detonated human bombs to deal damage to Zeon.

The combination that had appeared decades ago, when he had defeated countless competitors and seized Shinchon, had revealed itself once again.

Eaton and Dolkan were missing, but with the combination of those three alone, they could crush most Awakened with ease.

The problem was that Zeon was not an ordinary Awakened.

Zeon swung his hand.

Then the sand piled on the floor rose like snakes and attacked the three of them.

It was one of his Skills, Viper.

“What the hell?”

“Sand snakes?”

“Fuck!”

The three scattered in surprise.

They had faced countless Awakened, but they had never once seen an Awakened who controlled sand.

SWISH, SWISH, SWISH!

The Vipers flew in like venomous snakes, aiming for their throats.

The Vipers pursued their targets like Magic Missiles.

Realizing they could not dodge them, the three used their respective Skills to protect their bodies.

Taeo used his vajra, Ava used magic, and finally, Goran used Air Bomb to block the Vipers.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!

Explosions burst in the air, and grains of sand scattered in every direction.

“Ugh!”

Ava let out a groan.

She had not been harmed by the Vipers, but grains of sand had gotten into her eyes.

Without realizing it, she closed her eyes.

Zeon did not miss that opening and dug into her space.

“No!”

“Ava!”

Taeo and Goran shouted as they tried to save Ava. But Zeon was faster than them.

His right hand covered Ava’s face as it was.

Flames rose from his palm.

The ultra-high heat flames melted Ava’s face in an instant.

Ava died without even being able to scream.

At her horrific end, which they had never imagined, Goran and Taeo’s eyes widened. Zeon rushed toward them.

“Yaaah!”

“Die!”

Goran and Taeo each unleashed their strongest Skills.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!

The people lying on the beds caused a chain of explosions, and Taeo’s vajra, wreathed in red aura, shot toward Zeon like an arrow.

Zeon was swept up in the explosions, and Taeo’s vajra pierced through the center of the blast.

“Got him.”

“It’s over.”

Goran and Taeo shouted at the same time.

Their reason was paralyzed by the excitement that they had caught Zeon. Because of that, they did not know.

They did not know that, at some point, sand had begun floating around them.

They realized that fact only a moment later.

“Sand?”

“When?”

WHIRRRR!

At that instant, the floating sand began spinning at terrifying speed.

One of Zeon’s Skills, Sand Mixer, had been unleashed.

The sand particles spinning fiercely scraped away everything.

First, they ground the clothes they were wearing into powder, then scraped away their skin. Next came their muscles.

Goran and Taeo screamed until their throats nearly burst and tried to escape, but it was useless.

Sand Mixer swallowed not only their bodies, but even their voices.

Briel stared at the scene with her eyes wide open.

WHIRRRR!

In the quiet room, only the sound of turning gears rang out.

Briel trembled with the sensation that her own body was being ground away.

A moment later, the chilling sound vanished, and the sand that had been spinning fiercely settled to the floor.

In that place stood two lumps of meat.

They were Goran and Taeo, ground down so badly that their original shapes could no longer be recognized.

They staggered for a moment, then collapsed to the floor.

That was the end of the two men.

“My god!”

Briel covered her mouth with both hands.

Her pupils were trembling wildly.

She had never seen a Skill like this before.

She had not even imagined one.

“A Skill that controls sand? Then is he a Sand Mage?”

On Briel’s retinas, Zeon’s figure appeared, slowly walking out through the flames.

Even after the explosions Goran had caused and Taeo’s attack, Zeon was perfectly unharmed.

That sight made Briel feel even more appalled.

Zeon looked at Goran and Taeo’s corpses and murmured,

“This doesn’t seem like a Skill I should use on humans. I’ll have to restrain myself.”

He had thought they would endure to some extent, but it seemed he had overestimated their martial power.

Zeon shook his head slightly and looked around.

Because of Goran’s Skill, the underground space had been devastated.

All the people lying on the beds had been caught in the explosions and died. The only survivor was Briel.

Zeon approached Briel and said,

“If I want to keep the secret, I suppose killing you would be better.”

He did not want others to know he was a Sand Mage yet.

Quick-witted Briel hurriedly said,

“W-wait. I’ll keep your secret, so please spare me.”

“Not sure. I don’t trust people’s promises.”

“I’m an elf. A High Elf. I keep promises better than humans do.”

“Even so, you’re just an elf who makes drugs. What makes you think I’d trust a junkie’s promise? Killing you would be much simpler.”

‘Fuck!’

Urgency appeared on Briel’s face.

She had experienced every bottom of the human world.

Naturally, she guessed why Zeon was trying to hide his awakening system.

‘A Sand Mage’s uses are endless. The powerful people of Neo Seoul will definitely bother him.’

Zeon knew that too, which was why he was trying to keep it secret.

Although she had fallen to the point of making drugs because she could not overcome human threats, she still wanted to live.

Her age was only twelve.

Considering that elves lived for several hundred years, she was no different from a newborn.

She did not want to die at such a young age.

She spoke urgently.

“I-I’ll make a covenant.”

“What use is a covenant?”

“A High Elf’s covenant is different. It has binding force.”

“Binding force?”

“If I make a covenant of the soul, I must keep it. If I break it, I’ll lose my life immediately.”

“Something like that exists? The elves I’ve met until now never said anything like that.”

“That’s because they were ordinary elves. I’m a High Elf.”

“So you’re saying High Elves are different?”

“Of course we’re different.”

Briel shouted sharply.

Zeon frowned slightly.

Unlike Deioden, he did not have any particular feelings toward elves.

Of course, if he met them as enemies, he would naturally kill them. But he did not want to go out of his way to find and kill them one by one.

When Zeon seemed to hesitate for a moment, Briel threw out her final move.

“My true name is Briel Roa. I, Briel Roa, swear on my name to keep your secret and follow you.”

A bright light bloomed from her body.

At that instant, Zeon felt something connect his heart to hers. And he instinctively understood.

The moment Briel broke the covenant, she would lose her life.

Zeon clicked his tongue.

“Tch! You didn’t need to swear to follow me. You only needed to keep the secret.”

“Th-that was because I was in a hurry...... Fuck! Damn it......”

Only belatedly realizing that her covenant had gone too far, Briel stammered.

But the covenant had already activated.

It was too late to take it back.

Regret was useless.

“I’ll release you for now.”

Zeon grabbed the iron chain wrapped around Briel’s ankle.

Unique patterns were engraved on the chain.

A magic spell restricting Briel’s abilities was engraved on it. That was why Briel had been unable to break the chain until now.

WHOOSH!

The iron chain that had restrained her for so long melted away far too futilely.

“Ah!”

After blinking for a long while, Briel let out an exclamation without realizing it.

She cautiously moved her feet.

She felt no resistance.

“Freedom. I’m free.”

She jumped in place and savored her freedom. But it was not long before she recognized the cold reality.

“Fuck! Why did I make that oath......?”

Now that she had made a covenant of the soul to Zeon, she had to follow him.

She had escaped the sickening den of junkies, but another shackle was binding her.

“Ah! I don’t know. Whatever, somehow it’ll work out.”

In the end, she avoided reality.

After living in the human world for so long, her way of thinking had become similar to that of humans.

Meanwhile, Zeon searched the underground space to see if there were any survivors. Unfortunately, all of them had been caught in the explosions and lost their lives.

They were people who would have died even without the explosions.

Croker had placed them in a near-death state and supplied only the bare minimum of nutrients through tubes.

Since their bodies had been weakened to the limit while their blood was periodically drawn, their lives had already been hanging by a thread.

Zeon looked at the bodies with a bitter expression, then turned away.

Briel approached his side.

“Kid! I’ll release you, so go back to your own kind.”

“Fuck! I already made the covenant.”

“I’m saying I’ll release you.”

“I can’t help it because I made a covenant to follow you.”

“So?”

“I don’t know. I think this life is ruined.”