Chapter 121
In the deep of night, there were those approaching the fortress built by the White Bear Caravan.
Their number was fifty.
All of them were Awakeners.
Each of them had their faces covered with masks or veils.
It was the bare minimum precaution to keep their identities hidden from one another.
They were all Awakeners from the slums, a hastily assembled raiding party formed today to loot the White Bear Caravan.
The one leading the assault was Lee Beomho.
A D-rank magic-type Awakener.
The moment he obtained information that a caravan had arrived after decades, he immediately devised a plan to plunder it.
‘I don’t know where Akutsk is, but it must be full of rare items.’
He had ten subspace backpacks he had barely managed to acquire from the Goblin Market.
Each backpack was enchanted with a subspace the size of a small room.
They were items that were nearly impossible to obtain even with money. And he didn’t have the money to buy them anyway.
So he had no choice but to borrow them from a Goblin Market merchant under the condition of splitting the loot.
He never expected to steal everything from the White Bear Caravan. But even if he could fill just some of those backpacks, it would still be a huge profit.
It was a gamble with his life on the line.
But one worth taking.
‘If this one job succeeds, I can enter Neo Seoul. I’ll live there in luxury.’
Lee Beomho—and every Awakener participating in the raid—shared the same thought.
Soon, a small fortress came into their view.
The fortress, constructed by stacking cargo wagons layer upon layer, looked extremely sturdy.
But they weren’t too worried.
They trusted the items they had prepared.
Lee Beomho shouted,
“Use the Explosion Scrolls!”
“Okay!”
The Awakeners attached Explosion Scrolls to the outer wall of the fortress.
Moments later, the glowing red scrolls detonated.
KWA-KWA-KWANG!
A massive explosion erupted.
Lee Beomho and the others expected a large hole to be blown through the outer wall—the stacked wagons.
The core of their plan was to rush in through the breach, loot everything in an instant, and escape.
But things don’t always go according to plan.
“Fuck! Why is that still intact?!”
“Were the Explosion Scrolls defective?!”
The Awakeners stared wide-eyed at the site of the blast.
Despite such a powerful explosion, the outer wall of the fortress remained completely unharmed.
There wasn’t even a single scorch mark.
“What is that even made of…?”
“Does that matter? Fuck! We’re screwed!”
No sooner had one of them spoken than Awakeners from the White Bear Caravan rushed out from inside the fortress.
“Raiders!”
“Kill them all!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, they attacked the raiding party.
Faced with a situation far different from his plan, Lee Beomho couldn’t hide his momentary panic.
But he quickly regained his composure.
“Fuck it! Since it’s come to this, kill them all and take everything!”
“WAAAH!”
There was no turning back.
If they returned empty-handed, they would die anyway.
“Chaah!”
Lee Beomho unleashed his skill—Magic Missile.
SHWEEEEK!
Five Magic Missiles shot toward the White Bear Caravan’s Awakeners.
The other raiders also unleashed their main skills with everything they had.
KWA-KWA-KWANG!
“AAARGH!”
“UGH!”
Explosions and screams erupted everywhere.
But those dying were mostly the raiders.
The Awakeners of the White Bear Caravan were all elites.
They had fought against countless threats and monster attacks on their journey here.
To them, low-level Awakeners from the slums were no threat at all.
Alexandro, the leader of the caravan, watched the raiders fighting his Awakeners with an incredulous expression.
He had anticipated something like this might happen.
He had experienced similar incidents in other colonies.
But he hadn’t expected an attack on the very first day.
“Kill them all. Show Neo Seoul that the White Bear Caravan is not to be trifled with.”
“Don’t leave a single one alive!”
“They’re all dead, you bastards! You think this is our first time dealing with something like this?!”
“No one takes goods from the White Bear Caravan for free. These are our lifelines!”
The White Bear Caravan’s Awakeners rampaged like blood-crazed beasts.
The goods loaded onto the wagons were collected by the people of Akutsk with their lives on the line.
The success of the caravan’s trade run determined the survival of the Akutsk Colony and its people.
Naturally, their resolve was entirely different from that of the raiders.
“GRAAAH!”
“Ghk!”
The raiders fell one after another with screams.
As more than half of them were killed in an instant, hesitation spread among the raiders.
“Fuck… they’re this strong?!”
“At this rate, we’ll all be wiped out!”
One by one, deserters began to appear among them.
They broke away and tried to flee toward Neo Seoul.
But the White Bear Caravan’s Awakeners had no intention of letting even one escape.
“You filthy scavenger bastards!”
“Die!”
They chased down the raiders relentlessly and killed them.
“This can’t be… they’re this strong…”
Even Lee Beomho, who had organized the raid, couldn’t help but falter.
He had expected the caravan’s Awakeners to be strong, given that they crossed the desert.
But he hadn’t imagined the gap would be this overwhelming.
That miscalculation led to their failure.
“Damn it!”
In the end, Lee Beomho chose to flee.
But someone blocked his path.
Unlike the others, it was a slender young boy.
“You caused all this chaos and think you can just leave?”
“Move, you brat!”
Lee Beomho shouted and fired Magic Missiles.
Five Magic Missiles shot toward Damian at terrifying speed.
But just before they struck, someone stepped in.
It was Alexandro, the leader of the White Bear Caravan.
BAM-BAM-BAM!
The Magic Missiles struck his entire body instead of Damian.
Yet not even a single scratch appeared on him.
“Impossible!”
Lee Beomho’s eyes widened in shock.
At that moment, Alexandro reached out with his large hand and grabbed his head.
“Impossible, you say…?”
CRACK!
Lee Beomho’s head burst like a watermelon.
After killing him in an instant, Alexandro shook his hand and looked at Damian.
“You alright?”
“I could’ve handled him myself, you know?”
“Haven’t I told you again and again? You’re the core of our caravan, so take care of yourself.”
“Haha! That doesn’t mean you have to protect me like I’m a kid.”
“We wouldn’t have made it this far without you, Damian. I hope you realize just how remarkable and valuable you are.”
“I will.”
Damian smiled brightly.
***
The attack on the White Bear Caravan quickly spread through the slums overnight.
“The raiding party led by Lee Beomho, a D-rank Awakener, was wiped out?”
“They didn’t even steal a single item? That’s insane!”
“Looks like the White Bear Caravan is far stronger than expected.”
Whenever two or more people gathered, they talked about what had happened.
Lee Beomho wasn’t an exceptional Awakener, but he wasn’t weak enough to be crushed so easily either.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to lead a raiding party in the first place.
So the rumor that he and his entire group had been annihilated without putting up a fight shocked everyone.
There were quite a few others who had been planning similar raids.
But the moment they heard that Lee Beomho’s group had been wiped out in an instant, they all disbanded.
After displaying its overwhelming power, the White Bear Caravan did not leave the fortress it had built outside Neo Seoul.
It was as if they were saying—anyone with business should come to them.
And in fact, news began to spread that people from all over were preparing to formally visit the White Bear Caravan.
Zeon thought it was only natural.
The ones who had the goods were the White Bear Caravan.
They also controlled the supply.
So naturally, those who needed the goods had to go to them and request trade.
That was the way of the world, and the White Bear Caravan clearly understood the power and influence they held.
With demand overflowing, there was no need for them to move around and arrange meetings.
People would come to them anyway.
The problem was… one of those people intending to go was Brielle.
“Let’s go to the caravan!”
She suddenly came to Zeon and blurted it out.
Zeon blinked.
“Why?”
“I’m curious what kind of goods they brought. Aren’t you curious?”
“Not really.”
“Come on, let’s go together. There’s nothing left we can get from the Goblin Market anymore.”
It was never easy to obtain materials needed for alchemy.
When an opportunity appeared, you had to secure supplies.
There was no guarantee that the White Bear Caravan had what Brielle needed, but there was no harm in checking.
The problem was that Brielle couldn’t enter the caravan on her own.
The White Bear Caravan did not allow individual visits.
If they did, all sorts of random people would flood in.
So they placed strict restrictions on entry.
At the very least, only someone who was the head of a group could be granted access.
That was why Brielle was pestering Zeon.
Eaton, the ruler of Sinchon, was under Zeon’s influence.
That alone qualified Zeon for entry into the White Bear Caravan.
Brielle looked at Zeon eagerly and pleaded.
“Hmm? Let’s go.”
“…Sigh. Fine, let’s go.”
“Really? Yay!”
As soon as Zeon reluctantly agreed, Brielle jumped up and down in excitement.
Zeon put on his robe.
Even though he was going because of Brielle, he was curious about the White Bear Caravan as well.
Just by looking at the goods they brought, one could infer the environment of the Akutsk Colony and the distribution of monsters there.
Before heading to the caravan, they first stopped by Eaton.
Naturally, Eaton felt uncomfortable about Zeon’s visit.
With an awkward expression, he asked,
“You want to visit the White Bear Caravan?”
“Yes.”
“Right now?”
“Yes.”
Zeon answered with a smile.
Eaton felt the urge to punch that smiling face.
But he knew his head would be cut off instantly if he did.
He himself had been eyeing the goods brought by the White Bear Caravan, carefully waiting for the right moment to visit.
But Zeon had made the first move.
Naturally, he wasn’t prepared at all.
As he hesitated, Zeon smiled and said,
“Is that a problem?”
At that moment, Eaton felt a chill run down his spine.
He couldn’t be fooled by that gentle tone.
The man before him was a wolf—no, a beast—wearing sheep’s clothing.
If he let his guard down, he would be devoured in an instant.
Eaton stood up and said,
“Of course it’s fine. We were planning to visit the White Bear Caravan anyway.”
“Right now?”
“Yes. Right now.”
“That’s great. I was worried we might be imposing.”
“What are you saying? Thanks to you, Sinchon is peaceful. Of course we should accommodate you.”
Eaton said with a smile.
But his thoughts were entirely different.
‘Your very existence is a nuisance, you bastard!’