Chapter 129
“Haah…”
Mandy let out a sigh.
She had received this kind of gaze countless times before, so she knew exactly what it meant.
As expected of a half-elf, Mandy possessed exceptional beauty.
Naturally, many men had desired her and approached her—just like the man in front of her now.
The man wearing heavy armor was a paladin.
Not that he had truly awakened as one—it simply meant his rank in Dongdaemun was that of a paladin.
Johan had gathered the most loyal awakened in Dongdaemun and formed a unit.
They were the Paladin Order that protected the religious sect.
The heavy armor the man wore was the very symbol of that order.
His name was Patrick.
A member of the Paladin Order that followed Johan.
From the moment he saw Mandy, Patrick felt his heart pound.
He was drawn to her rare beauty—something not often seen in Dongdaemun.
“We need to investigate you. Come with me.”
“To where?”
“There’s a Paladin Order office nearby. We’ll conduct the investigation there.”
“I refuse.”
Mandy answered firmly.
Patrick’s face twisted.
“You dare defy the sect?”
“I don’t believe in your sect. And I’m not from Dongdaemun. I have no reason to follow your orders.”
“In Dongdaemun, the sect is the law. If you’ve entered, you must obey its command.”
“That’s ridiculous. No matter how much the sect rules Dongdaemun, it can’t force people from other districts.”
“Shut up, woman!”
Losing ground in logic, Patrick shouted angrily.
In contrast, Mandy’s expression grew colder.
“You’re the one who should be quiet.”
“You—!”
Mandy pulled out an ID from her belongings and said,
“My name is Mandy Systein, a supervisor of Neo Seoul. I belong to City Hall.”
At her unexpected response, Patrick’s lips pressed tightly together.
The corners of his eyes twitched.
‘Damn it!’
If she truly was a City Hall supervisor, she wasn’t someone he could treat recklessly.
He stared at her ID.
It was genuine—issued by City Hall.
Such IDs were magically reinforced and impossible to forge.
Mandy spoke confidently,
“Why exactly am I suspicious?”
“What brings a City Hall supervisor here?”
“Answer my question first.”
“It seems I made a mistake.”
“Then I don’t need to go to your office, right?”
“Your suspicion hasn’t been fully cleared yet. The others with you should also identify themselves.”
Patrick glared at Zeon and Brielle, trying to hold onto something.
Zeon sighed and spoke,
“My name is Zeon.”
“Zeon? Don’t tell me—the one from Sinchon?”
“Yes. I came from Sinchon.”
There was no point in hiding it, so Zeon revealed his identity without hesitation.
Patrick’s reaction was immediate and dramatic.
“Zeon of Sinchon! Are you here targeting Dongdaemun?”
He shouted as he drew the sword at his waist.
Dongdaemun had been keeping a close watch on Zeon.
Though he hadn’t done anything threatening, he was labeled a dangerous figure simply for being the hidden ruler of Sinchon.
Naturally, the Paladin Order was wary of him.
Zeon let out a sigh.
“Ha… Do I look like someone here to target Dongdaemun? I just ended up here while walking.”
“And you expect me to believe that?”
“She”—Zeon gestured to Mandy beside him—“can vouch for that.”
“I was talking with him, and we ended up here. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Ha! Damn it…”
Patrick cursed under his breath.
Mandy’s eyes sharpened.
“What did you say?”
“Just talking to myself.”
“You call yourself a paladin? You’re no different from a back-alley thug.”
“What did you just say?”
“Just talking to myself.”
“How dare—!”
In that instant, Patrick’s anger exploded.
Losing his reason, he swung his sword at Mandy.
Mandy’s eyes widened—she hadn’t expected him to attack so suddenly.
Just as Eloi’s personality was about to surface, Zeon stepped in front of her.
Clang!
With his blazing gauntlet, he blocked Patrick’s sword.
“Ugh!”
The force of the impact sent Patrick’s sword flying back.
He lost his balance and staggered backward.
His heavy armor echoed loudly with each step, drawing everyone’s attention.
“What’s going on?”
“Huh? A paladin is fighting!”
As people began murmuring, other paladins in the distance noticed and rushed over.
“What’s happening here?”
“You dare lay a hand on a paladin in Dongdaemun?”
Without even asking what happened, they became enraged at the sight of Patrick stumbling.
“Wait a moment—”
Mandy stepped forward to speak, but they had no intention of listening.
“Shut up, woman!”
“Subdue them!”
Shing—!
Their swords flew toward Mandy and Zeon.
A milky-white aura gathered around the blades.
“You damn fanatics—know when to stop!”
At that moment, Eloi’s personality burst forth.
A spear had already appeared in her hand.
A weapon of tremendous power that could be automatically summoned to its owner.
The spearhead split into nine branches, resembling a nine-tailed fox.
That was why the weapon was called “Mad Nine-Tailed Fox.”
Once Eloi wielded the Mad Nine-Tailed Fox, no one could stop her.
Her anger already at its peak, she swung the spear toward the paladins.
Boom! Boom! Crash!
“Gah!”
“You crazy bitch—!”
The paladins screamed under the terrifying power of the Mad Nine-Tailed Fox.
True to its name, Eloi rampaged like a madwoman.
Every time she swung her spear, paladins were swept away.
The commotion grew larger, and more paladins rushed in.
Seeing this, Brielle muttered,
“We’re screwed.”
“Brielle!”
“I’m right! That crazy half-elf stirred things up big time. At this rate, every paladin in Dongdaemun is going to swarm here. Forget finding the scavengers’ hideout—we might end up starting a war with Dongdaemun.”
“That’s not necessarily true.”
“What do you mean?”
“Thanks to Eloi drawing all the attention, we’ve become free.”
At Zeon’s answer, Brielle broke into a bright smile.
“Oh! That’s true.”
“She’s a City Hall supervisor. No matter how powerful Dongdaemun is, they can’t kill her so easily.”
If they killed Eloi recklessly, it would give City Hall an excuse to intervene in Dongdaemun.
Even Johan would find that burdensome.
So they could injure her, but not kill her.
To subdue a rampaging Eloi, it would take many paladins—and time.
In the meantime, Zeon and Brielle could move freely and gather information throughout Dongdaemun.
Leaving Eloi behind in her frenzy, the two quietly slipped away.
With everyone’s attention focused on her, no one noticed them.
Thanks to that, they were able to easily put distance between themselves and the chaos.
“That crazy half-elf is actually useful. Hehe!”
Brielle laughed mischievously.
Zeon asked,
“You’re both elves. Aren’t you worried about her?”
“After seeing her fight? Not really.”
“Well… fair enough.”
“Pitying or helping an elven warrior is an insult. Even if she’s only half, she’s still a proud warrior. Helping her would be disrespectful.”
“I see.”
Having learned a bit about elven values, Zeon nodded.
Though the two elves constantly bickered and provoked each other, deep down they acknowledged one another.
Thinking they were both rather dishonest, Zeon continued walking.
Thanks to Eloi causing such a scene, the streets had grown quiet.
Not only the paladins, but even civilians had gathered where she was fighting.
Because of that, Zeon and Brielle could move freely without worrying about attention.
“Huh?”
Brielle suddenly let out a short exclamation.
“What is it?”
“Look over here.”
She pointed to a nearby alley.
“Why?”
“Doesn’t this seem strange?”
“What about it?”
Instead of answering, Brielle walked into the alley.
Zeon quietly followed behind her.
Reaching the dead end, Brielle muttered,
“Hidden truth… reveal yourself.”
Light radiated from both her palms, and the scenery inside the alley shifted.
The wall disappeared, revealing a small door in its place.
“A perception-blocking spell?”
“Yep! It’s so refined that even elves with sharp senses can’t detect it. But it can’t fool a high elf like me. Ahem!”
Brielle looked at Zeon expectantly, as if waiting for praise.
Zeon smirked and gently patted her cone hat.
“Good job.”
“Hehe!”
“A high-level perception-blocking spell in Dongdaemun…”
“Suspicious, right?”
“Very.”
“We’re going in, right?”
“Let’s go.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Brielle grabbed the doorknob.
As expected, it was locked from the inside—but she handled it easily.
“Unlock!”
She released the lock with magic.
Though alchemy was her main specialty, casting simple spells like this was nothing to her.
Click.
They opened the door and stepped inside.
The interior was pitch dark.
A passageway stretched downward into the underground without a single ray of light.
Brielle led the way without hesitation.
She wasn’t acting recklessly—
“Cover-up Detection.”
She cast a spell to check for hidden traps.
Under her detection magic, concealed traps began to reveal themselves one by one.
Once exposed, they posed little threat.
Thanks to that, the two were able to pass through them easily.
After crossing several traps—
Whoosh!
Something shot out from the darkness at terrifying speed, enveloping them.
“Eek! What is this?”
Brielle cried out in shock.
By then, a thin, net-like substance had already wrapped around both her and Zeon.
She tried to break free, but the net only tightened around them.
“Ugh!”
Under the immense pressure squeezing her entire body, Brielle’s face turned pale.
Zeon spoke,
“It looks like the kind of net scavengers use. The more you move, the tighter it gets.”
“Damn it! What kind of thing is this—”
At that moment, someone stepped out of the darkness.
“Who are you? How did you get in here?”
A man carrying a bow and arrows made of special alloy on his back, with a machete at his waist.
In his hand was a baton crackling with high-voltage electricity.
Zeon frowned.
As the man approached, a strong stench of blood hit his senses.
It wasn’t the kind of smell you’d get from killing one or two people—it was far worse.
“Looks like you’ve been killing people just now.”
“Heh, sharp senses. Want to become part of my collection too? Your ears look nice.”
The man lifted his waist slightly, revealing numerous ears hanging from his belt.
“My nickname is the Ear Collector. Heh.”
The man grinned, exposing his yellowed teeth.