Chapter 134
Beyond his glasses, Johan’s eyes were gleaming coldly.
Behind him, Kim Jaekyung stood with her head bowed, hands politely clasped together.
She couldn’t bring herself to meet Johan’s gaze.
Her failure to brainwash a member of the White Bear Caravan had caused the situation to spiral out of control.
Because of that, they had incurred the caravan’s hostility and become a laughingstock.
If that had been all, it might have been bearable.
But today, a series of major incidents had erupted in Dongdaemun.
One was the rampage of a woman named Mandy, a supervisor directly under City Hall.
Numerous Awakened from Dongdaemun were deployed to subdue her, but the operation ended in failure.
All of them suffered injuries, big and small, and Mandy escaped Dongdaemun without a care.
That alone was enough to damage their pride, but then an even greater incident broke out in the plaza.
A battle erupted between Awakened—and then a massive explosion followed.
The entire plaza had nearly been blown away.
Fortunately, there were no casualties, but the consecutive incidents had greatly soured Johan’s mood.
Dongdaemun was his domain.
A kingdom he had ruled for decades.
Today, that kingdom had been trampled and defiled.
For Johan, it was an unbearable humiliation.
After a long silence, he finally spoke.
“Have you identified the ones who fought in the plaza?”
“One has been confirmed to be Zeon, and the other appears to be someone who came from the Eastern District.”
“Zeon… and an Awakened from the Eastern District?”
“Yes!”
“…They must think very little of me.”
The muscles in Johan’s jaw twitched.
Anyone could freely come and go through Dongdaemun.
Just like Neo Seoul, the slums had no walls separating the districts.
But each district enforced strict rules.
Breaking those rules or fighting recklessly was no different from defying the ruler.
Johan turned his gaze to Kim Jaekyung.
“What do you think?”
“I don’t think we should let this slide.”
“Then should we go to war with Sinchon?”
“…That…”
“Or should we go to war with the Eastern District?”
“….”
Kim Jaekyung tightly shut her mouth.
A war with Sinchon might be manageable.
But a war with the Eastern District was unthinkable.
Fundamentally, there was an insurmountable gap between the slums and Neo Seoul.
That applied to the Awakened as well.
In both number and quality, the slums could never match Neo Seoul.
No matter how strong Dongdaemun was, it couldn’t compare to the Eastern District.
If they went to war with it, defeat was certain.
The only somewhat viable option was a war with Sinchon, where Zeon was.
But even then, the damage would be severe.
More importantly, the timing was terrible.
Because of the White Bear Caravan, tensions between Neo Seoul and the slums were razor-sharp.
“If we recklessly start a war with Sinchon and weaken ourselves, we’ll just become prey for other factions.”
“…!”
“How filthy. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this way.”
“I’m sorry. It’s because I was lacking…”
Kim Jaekyung lowered her head again.
Johan stared at her intently.
Under his persistent gaze, she felt even more at a loss.
After what felt like an eternity, he spoke again.
“Tell them we accept the Western District’s proposal.”
“…Pardon?”
“Since it’s come to this, we’ll join hands with the Western District if we must. We need to show that we’re not to be taken lightly. If we endure this even after an incident occurred in my kingdom, how do you think others will see us?”
Johan’s voice was as cold as ice and as sharp as a blade.
It felt as if the temperature in the room had dropped by ten degrees in an instant.
Shivering in the chilling atmosphere, Kim Jaekyung trembled.
Johan wasn’t finished.
“You’ll handle this matter.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I hope you don’t fail this time. Because if you do, I won’t be able to overlook it any longer.”
“I will make sure to succeed.”
Her voice trembled slightly.
This was the last chance she had been given.
If she failed, it wouldn’t simply end with death.
A pain worse than hell would torment her endlessly.
Kim Jaekyung bit her lip until it bled.
***
Damian sat atop a fortress made of piled cargo trucks, gazing at Neo Seoul.
Neo Seoul looked like an island floating in a desert.
Everything else in the world was pitch black—only Neo Seoul shone.
Towering skyscrapers rose high above massive walls, bathed in dazzling lights.
A civilization humanity had long forgotten had been rebuilt in all its splendor.
A city and fortress—the last of its kind—where only the chosen could enter.
That was Neo Seoul.
Naturally, it wasn’t easy for outsiders to enter and settle there.
One had to be an Awakened or possess equivalent abilities.
A place where only the chosen could live.
In a way, it was a utopia of the present age.
At least, that’s how it seemed to those who had survived harsh environments like Damian or the White Bear Caravan.
But Damian knew the truth.
A utopia wasn’t as beautiful as it appeared.
That towering city had been built upon countless corpses.
No one remembered their sacrifice.
Not even those living inside the city.
“Elves, dwarves… for such other races to enjoy the civilization humanity struggled to rebuild… how ironic. Because of them, the world fell apart—and my father died.”
A dry smile, as arid as the desert climate, spread across his lips.
Damian had never once forgotten the moment Belov died.
His father, Belov, had been betrayed and killed by both the other races and humans of Elharun.
The blood he had shed, the sound of his final breath—it all remained vividly etched in Damian’s mind.
Perhaps until the day he died, the memory of that moment would never fade.
Whenever he looked at Neo Seoul, he thought of Belov.
And when he thought of Belov, the other races naturally came to mind.
When he thought of them, the blood in his entire body turned cold, and hostility surged within him.
Damian spent quite some time calming those emotions.
It was only after he had somewhat steadied his turbulent feelings—
“Damian!”
—that Alexandro’s voice called out from behind him.
“Yes?”
As if he had never worn such a cold expression, Damian answered with a smile.
Alexandro walked up beside him.
“You weren’t coming down, so I came up.”
“I was just watching the lights. They’re beautiful.”
“Neo Seoul? It’s quite a sight. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.”
“It’s fascinating, isn’t it?”
“What is?”
“That it shines so brightly, yet the demonic beasts don’t attack it.”
“That is strange. It glows like that even at night—why do the beasts leave Neo Seoul alone?”
The desert was teeming with countless demonic beasts.
Just as the seas of old had once been filled with fish, the desert was now filled with them.
From the surface to the underground—even the skies—the beasts ruled everything.
Compared to that, the territory held by humans was extremely small.
Demonic beasts never allowed humans to establish their own domains.
Whenever humans built anything noticeable, the beasts would rush in and attack without hesitation.
That was their nature.
Because of that, the Akutsk Colony had its defensive walls destroyed several times during its early days.
Each time, people banded together to endure, rebuilding the broken walls again and again.
Only after enduring such hardship were they finally able to complete the colony.
Even so, the scale of Akutsk Colony was incomparably small and shabby compared to Neo Seoul.
And that wasn’t unusual.
Most of the colonies the White Bear Caravan had visited were in a similar state.
If a colony was unnecessarily large or flashy, it would draw the attention of demonic beasts.
It had to be built in a way that avoided standing out.
That was why most colonies could not surpass a medieval level of development.
But Neo Seoul was different.
It perfectly recreated the civilization from humanity’s golden age.
Towering skyscrapers that seemed to pierce the sky, dazzling lights illuminating the night—
it had more than enough to attract the attention of demonic beasts.
And yet, they did not approach Neo Seoul.
As if they feared it.
Damian’s gaze suddenly shifted to the mammoth standing on one side of the fortress.
Among demonic beasts, it was considered relatively intact—but a beast was still a beast.
A massive creature possessing tremendous power.
Most other beasts wouldn’t even dare approach it.
Damian’s ability had been the decisive factor in their safe journey to Neo Seoul, but the mammoth had also played a significant role.
That was how powerful it was.
Yet even that mammoth feared approaching any closer to Neo Seoul.
There was clearly something about Neo Seoul that made demonic beasts afraid.
People said it possessed some kind of anti-demonic force, but Damian believed there was something more.
After listening to everything, Alexandro asked,
“So what is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“If everyone and their dog knew, would it still be a secret?”
“You’re not just anyone, though.”
“Well, that’s true.”
Damian let out a faint chuckle.
Alexandro smiled in a similar way.
Having shared countless years together, their smiles had grown quite alike.
Just then—
Woooong!
A powerful vibration suddenly pulsed through the fortress.
In an instant, Damian’s expression turned cold.
“It’s acting up again.”
“…!”
“Has the seal weakened?”
“Shall we check?”
“Yes.”
The two descended the stairs together.
Their destination was the fifth floor directly below.
The goods they had currently released into Neo Seoul were items taken from the warehouses on the third floor and below.
The truly important items were on the fourth and fifth floors.
The fourth floor stored dungeon-excavated artifacts.
And the fifth floor—held that thing.
The fifth floor was a special zone.
Only Damian and Alexandro were allowed to enter.
A blue barrier shimmered at the entrance.
When Damian placed his hand against it, the barrier dissolved.
It was a magic circle that only he could deactivate.
The two passed through and entered the fifth-floor storage.
Inside, the same mysterious blue light filled the space.
At the center of the swirling glow, something floated.
With no pedestal beneath it, suspended in midair, was a crown.
Set with a blue gemstone at its center, it emitted an enigmatic aura as it hovered.
Damian’s gaze turned cold as he looked at it.
“The Crown of the Spirit King.”
That was the name of the floating crown.
It looked mystical and beautiful—but it was a cursed object soaked in the blood of countless people.
No one could count how many sacrifices had been made to obtain it.
Among all the items the White Bear Caravan had carried, it was the most valuable—and the most dangerous.
That was why they had set up a sealing magic circle specifically on the fifth floor.
Ordinary items would have had their power suppressed.
But the Crown of the Spirit King was unaffected by the seal—
instead, it was releasing its power like something gone mad.
Alexandro spoke.
“The sealing magic circle won’t last much longer. At this rate, even those inside Neo Seoul will notice.”
“Then it’s about time we scatter the bait.”
“So it begins now?”
“Yes.”
“A grand chaos will unfold.”
“I’m sorry. Because of me, even the caravan members are being dragged into this.”
“Don’t say that. Without you, we wouldn’t have made it this far. Our lives were given by you. So don’t speak of regret or foolishness—we share the same fate.”
“Then let’s burn as fiercely as we can.”
A strange heat flickered in Damian’s eyes, which had been nothing but cold until now.