Chapter 136

A ripple spread through the eyes of Serian Moliana as she stared at the Kurup wood necklace.

“How is this possible?”

“A scavenger had it. It seems to be an item that came out of the White Bear Caravan.”

“Kurup wood only grows in the Foelin Mountain Range, even in Kurayan. The elves of Foelin use this necklace as a sacred relic.”

Serian searched through her memories from before she crossed over to Earth.

For elves, a few hundred years was not a very long time, but Serian’s memories had faded considerably after she came to Earth and rushed forward without a moment to catch her breath.

Because of that, she had to make a great effort to recall them.

“When the Foelin elves interact with elves from other regions, they give this necklace as a gift.”

Serian removed the necklace hanging around her neck.

It was identical to the one Borin had brought.

“Kurup wood has long been used as a medium between elves and spirits. That’s why elves who possess this necklace can easily form contracts with spirits. I was able to form a contract that way as well…”

Her gaze grew distant.

Once, she too had formed a contract with a spirit.

She couldn’t even describe how happy she had been when she first made that contract.

Through her bond with the spirit, she felt complete and deeply fulfilled. But the small, adorable spirit was no longer by her side.

When she crossed over from Kurayan to Earth, her connection to the spirit was severed.

Spirits were one of the fundamental components of that world.

As part of Kurayan, they could not leave it. That was why they could not cross over to Earth with Serian and remained behind in Kurayan.

The sense of loss and shock Serian felt when the connection was forcibly cut was beyond words.

Only after suffering for ten days and nights was she barely able to recover and accept reality.

And she was not the only one.

All elves who crossed from Kurayan to Earth had their connections to spirits forcibly severed.

Even though the connection was broken, the Kurup wood necklace remained a precious item to the elves.

It was a symbol of hope—that someday they might reconnect with spirits again.

“Elves cherish this necklace until the day they die. When their lifespan ends and they return to nature, they pass it down to the next generation, continuing the legacy.”

Elves born on Earth did not have Kurup wood necklaces. It was no longer possible to obtain Kurup wood, nor were there any Foelin elves left to craft them.

“This clearly belongs to an elf who came from Kurayan. How on earth did humans obtain this?”

“That, we do not know.”

“We must find out—how they got it, and how many they have. If they have more, we must recover every single one.”

“And if the humans refuse to hand them over?”

“We recover them anyway.”

“Even by force?”

“I told you. The Kurup wood necklace is the point of contact between elves and spirits. If spirits are ever born on Earth, this necklace will play a crucial role.”

“Understood. I will recover them all without fail.”

Borin answered with a firm expression.

After watching her for a moment, Serian took out a sheet of paper from a drawer.

“As it happens, we received an invitation from a place called the White Bear Caravan. If you show this, you should be able to enter easily.”

Just then—

“Wait!”

Someone opened the door and entered Serian’s room.

Serian frowned at the rude intrusion.

“I know the Blue Fallen Leaves Special Operations Unit is impressive, but we cannot entrust the fate of the elves to them alone.”

The uninvited guest spoke bluntly.

If anyone else had behaved like this, they would have been thrown out or severely punished. But this visitor had more than enough standing to do so.

Long hair flowing down to her waist, black eyes, and even her tight-fitting outfit was entirely black.

The visitor’s name was Eli.

She was Serian’s confidant and the second-in-command of the Northern District.

Her nickname was the Spider Queen.

Though she had no real connection to spiders, she was called that because of her appearance and aura.

At Eli’s appearance, Borin frowned without realizing it.

Eli’s gloomy atmosphere and manner of speaking—so unlike that of a fellow elf—naturally put her in a bad mood.

Serian asked Eli,

“What do you mean? Are you saying you don’t trust the Blue Fallen Leaves Special Operations Unit?”

“It’s not that I don’t trust them. It’s just that we can’t leave something this important entirely to them.”

“Then are you saying you’ll handle it yourself?”

“That’s not it. I simply think it would be better to assign additional forces to support them.”

“Is that so? Who do you have in mind?”

“I think attaching the Thorn Assault Unit would be best.”

“Aren’t they too aggressive?”

Serian hesitated.

The Thorn Assault Unit was one of the Northern District’s elite forces.

Composed of a hundred members, they were a one-against-a-hundred elite group that fought against humans who constantly targeted elves.

If an elf in the Northern District was harmed by humans, they would pursue them to the ends of the earth for revenge—human hunters, in essence.

That was why awakened individuals in other districts avoided the Thorn Assault Unit.

Eli insisted,

“That’s exactly why we need them. Their aggressiveness and combat power will instead deter human provocation.”

“That’s a reasonable point.”

Serian nodded.

Meanwhile, Borin remained silent with her head lowered.

She bit her lip tightly, holding back her anger.

Eli’s words were no different from saying she didn’t trust the Blue Fallen Leaves Special Operations Unit.

Eli was always like this.

For some reason, she constantly kept Borin and the unit in check.

And she did so very subtly.

Whether Serian understood Borin’s feelings or not, she concluded decisively:

“Then we’ll proceed with the Blue Fallen Leaves Special Operations Unit leading the operation, and the Thorn Assault Unit providing support.”

“...that’s settled.”

“A wise decision.”

“We will carry out your orders.”

Eli and Borin answered at the same time.

***

KWAHHH!

Zeon stood under the stream of hot water, letting it pour over his entire body.

It was an age of water scarcity.

Out in the desert, not only was showering impossible, even finding drinking water was difficult.

The only reason he could shower like this was because he was in Neo Seoul.

Beneath Neo Seoul lay a resource recovery facility.

The water used in Neo Seoul, along with wastewater, was collected there, purified, and then supplied to the slums.

Thanks to that, even the slums had enough water to use.

This too was one of the benefits of civilization.

After finishing his shower, Zeon wrapped a towel around his lower body and stepped outside.

“Hyung?”

“Those wounds…!”

Levin and Brielle, who were in the living room, were startled when they saw Zeon.

It was because of the countless scars covering his body.

From his upper body to his lower body, exposed above the towel, there were too many scars to count, densely etched like brands.

Among them, the most striking was a massive wound stretching across his chest and abdomen. With such an injury, his ribs should have shattered and his organs spilled out—he should have died.

Even a high-grade healing potion wouldn’t have been able to restore a wound like that.

At least, according to what they knew.

And yet, despite such horrific injuries, Zeon was alive.

There were many other noticeable scars as well.

It was hard to believe that a single person’s body could bear so many marks.

“Hyung, your body is full of scars…”

“It’s nothing.”

Only then did Zeon realize they were staring at him, and he gave an awkward smile.

Brielle, on the other hand, couldn’t close her gaping mouth.

What kind of life has he lived?

She had never seen such scars on any elf or human before.

Even the smallest of those wounds would have been fatal to an ordinary person. Yet Zeon had dozens of them.

There were so many scars that it was hard to find any unmarked skin.

Through those scars, Brielle caught a glimpse of Zeon’s past.

He must have fought endlessly just to get here.

Only then did she understand why Zeon lived so listlessly.

Unless it was absolutely necessary, he stayed cooped up at home, barely moving. In some ways, his life even seemed idle.

But seeing his scars made his behavior understandable.

After fighting until his body became like that, he must have been utterly exhausted.

Having returned to his hometown, Neo Seoul, in that condition, he must have desperately needed rest.

For someone who had burned everything away, time to recharge was necessary to regain vitality—and right now was that time for Zeon.

In contrast to the heavy atmosphere, Zeon smiled lightly and said,

“It’s nothing. Everyone carries around this much, don’t they?”

“Who carries wounds like that…?”

“An ordinary person would die from just one of those.”

“Maybe it’s because some old geezer put me through hell since I was young—my body’s gotten pretty tough.”

Zeon smiled as he spoke.

As he put on his clothes one by one, the scars disappeared from view.

By the time he was fully dressed, there wasn’t a single visible mark on him.

He looked completely clean, like someone who had lived a smooth, uneventful life.

If Brielle and Levin hadn’t seen it themselves, they would never have imagined that his body was covered in so many scars beneath his clothes.

When Brielle saw Zeon pick up the invitation on the table, she asked,

“You’re going now?”

“The auction’s about to start soon.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“Me too, hyung!”

Brielle and Levin both insisted on coming along.

Zeon nodded.

“Alright! Let’s go together.”

Even if he told them not to come, they would have followed anyway.

It was easier to just take them along from the start.

“Alright!”

“Let’s go!”

The two of them followed Zeon eagerly.

They had just left the slums and entered the desert when—

“Zeon, look over there.”

Brielle suddenly pointed in the opposite direction.

Where she pointed, countless people were moving.

It was a procession heading toward the White Bear Caravan.

Levin spoke,

“The West District, the East District… huh? Those are South District awakened, and over there—elves? Even the North District awakened are here. What is this? Every district in Neo Seoul sent people. So everyone came except City Hall? This is insane!”

He shook his head in disbelief.

Though he had lived in Neo Seoul his whole life, he had never seen so many awakened gathered in one place.

Levin felt himself shrink instinctively.

Even though he had awakened a rare ability, he was still just a young boy.

Faced with such an overwhelming sight, he couldn’t help but feel intimidated.

Brielle stared blankly at the awakened from the North District.

The North District was composed entirely of elves.

Even as a High Elf, this was her first time seeing so many elves at once.

Her gaze toward them was complicated.

Elves who remained in the human world and had assimilated with humans.

Their atmosphere felt closer to humans than elves.

If it had been before she came to Neo Seoul, she would have despised elves who blended into human society.

She would have criticized them for losing their identity as elves.

Who am I to judge? I’m no different from them.

In some ways, she was even more corrupted than they were.

Even if it was due to the threat from humans, she had gone as far as creating drugs.

Countless humans had fallen into addiction and died miserably because of the drugs she made.

No matter what, that original sin could never be erased.

Because of that, even if she escaped from addiction, she could never dare return to a High Elf village.

In the end, she was destined to spend her life here.

And as time passed, she would eventually become just like them.

Even now, to others, I probably already look the same…

As she stared blankly at the elves, Levin spoke to her,

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

“Ah, nothing. Let’s go.”

Brielle shook her head and hurried forward.

Levin watched her back for a moment before following.

Zeon also followed them, thinking to himself,

Gathering this many people in one place… that was your plan too, wasn’t it?

As if answering his unspoken question, he saw Damian standing high atop the fortress walls.