Chapter 141
Zeon stood on the rooftop of the tallest building in the slums, gazing out at the desert.
A fierce desert wind blew as if it might sweep him away at any moment, yet his body did not move in the slightest, as though iron stakes had been driven through him.
Boom! KWAANG!
In the distance, he could see awakened ones fighting fiercely at the fortress.
“Scavengers, the Dongdaemun fanatics, and those supporting them… what a mess.”
The awakened ones of Dongdaemun wore masks and changed their weapons to conceal their identities. But there was something they could never hide.
Their skills.
One of the skills commonly used by Dongdaemun awakened ones was Divine Radiance.
It was a kind of barrier-type skill.
A skill that paladins or berserkers were required to learn.
When faced with danger, Dongdaemun awakened ones would instinctively deploy Divine Radiance to protect their entire bodies.
Despite its grand name, it didn’t block all attacks. Still, it was powerful enough to save one’s life at least once in a critical moment.
When pushed to the brink of death, anyone instinctively uses their most trusted method—and Dongdaemun awakened ones were no exception.
Because of that, it was easy to distinguish them.
Zeon’s gaze shifted to a tall building on the outskirts of the slums.
He saw mechanized awakened ones, exhausted after supplying power to a railgun.
‘The mechanized awakened ones must have come from the western sector…’
That wasn’t all.
Suspicious movements could be sensed throughout the slums.
Chaos inevitably breeds more chaos.
In the midst of extreme disorder, someone greedy for the Spirit King’s Crown had begun to move.
‘Just as Damian wanted.’
Zeon frowned.
This incident was shaking the firmly maintained order of Neo Seoul.
It wouldn’t collapse entirely, but major confusion would be unavoidable.
Zeon did not want Neo Seoul to fall into chaos.
Regardless of his personal feelings, he knew all too well that Neo Seoul was humanity’s last bastion.
It was the only place where so many people lived together and had achieved such an advanced civilization.
At least, among all the places Zeon had visited.
If this place were to fall, human civilization would regress by at least two or three generations.
That was why Zeon had always tried to avoid causing problems that could shake Neo Seoul’s system.
But Damian was different.
He didn’t care whether Neo Seoul was shaken or destroyed because of this.
For him, avenging his father was more important than anything—and he was prepared to pay any price for it.
That was why he had relentlessly engineered this chaos.
Using every item he had painstakingly gathered until now.
KWAANG!
At that moment, an explosion on a completely different scale from before erupted.
It was so powerful that the shockwave reached Zeon’s location.
Windows shattered, and objects on the rooftop were blown apart like straw.
‘What is that?’
A deep furrow formed between Zeon’s brows.
After part of the fortress exploded, what emerged was a gigantic mammoth.
Pruuuuu!
The mammoth trumpeted and began attacking the awakened ones who had assaulted the caravan.
“A m-mammoth’s gone berserk!”
“Damn it! Do something about that thing!”
“Shit!”
The faces of the scavengers and Dongdaemun awakened ones were filled with panic.
Even though mammoths were generally docile, this one was a C-rank large magical beast.
It was classified as C-rank because its attack power was low, but in terms of defense alone, it could easily be considered B-rank.
The mammoth rampaged wildly, attacking awakened ones with its tusks and four legs.
As a result, the casualties among the awakened ones continued to increase.
As the chaos reached its peak due to the mammoth’s rampage, those who had been waiting for an opportunity in the slums began to move in earnest.
Zeon decided it was time for him to act as well.
Paht!
He kicked off the rooftop and leapt into the air.
His body flew dozens of meters before descending toward the ground in an arc.
Thud!
After landing lightly on the road, Zeon began walking toward the desert.
“Zeon!”
“Right?”
Suddenly, two people stepped in front of him, blocking his path.
They were twin sisters whose faces looked identical, as if stamped from the same mold.
“It’s true that I’m Zeon. But who are you?”
“It’s him!”
“We found him!”
The twin sisters ignored his question and chatted among themselves.
Zeon felt a strange sense of familiarity, as if he had seen them somewhere before.
‘Twins… could they be the ones I saw at the plaza?’
He hadn’t seen them clearly because of the barrier, but he remembered there had been one old man and two girls.
The twins standing before him gave off a similar impression.
“Were you the ones watching from the plaza?”
“You knew?”
“How?”
The twin sisters widened their eyes in surprise.
They began chattering like larks.
“That’s amazing! You really saw through grandpa’s barrier.”
“Has grandpa gotten rusty?”
“He’s gotten older, but his skills are still sharp, right?”
“Then how did he figure it out?”
“Maybe he really is A-rank.”
The twins didn’t know that only S-rank or higher awakened ones could see through the barrier.
The old man had kept that fact a secret from them. So they simply assumed Zeon was around A-rank.
“Still, A-rank is impressive.”
“It is. We’re A-rank too.”
“But not enough to beat us. We’re beyond that.”
“That’s true!”
Listening to their conversation made Zeon feel dizzy.
He needed to stop their chatter first.
“Did you come looking for me on purpose?”
“Yeah!”
“Why?”
“To stop you.”
“Me? Why?”
“You’re going to the desert, right?”
“That’s right.”
“So we’re here to stop you.”
“Why?”
“Grandpa asked us. He said to hold you back for a bit so you can’t interfere.”
“So why stop me from interfering?”
“He said you’re a risk factor.”
“A risk factor?”
“Yeah! Because of you, the plan they worked so hard to set up might fall apart. And that can’t happen.”
The twin sisters answered innocently, with bright expressions.
“By ‘grandpa,’ you mean the barrier mage who was with you?”
“How did you know?”
“I saw him next to you.”
“As expected, you’re impressive. Which makes you even more dangerous.”
“Stopping the plan from collapsing? Don’t tell me—you’re from City Hall?”
“Whaaaat?!”
The twins’ mouths fell open in shock.
Very few people knew they belonged to City Hall.
At most, only the old man who accompanied them and a handful of others knew.
“So you’re the Numbers—the execution unit directly under the mayor.”
Seeing their reaction, Zeon became certain.
“Wow, he’s really smart.”
“I wonder how his brain is wired.”
“I’m curious!”
“Then let’s take a look.”
“Should we?”
“Let’s. Grandpa gave permission anyway.”
In an instant, the smiles vanished from the twins’ faces.
At the same moment, Zeon’s gaze grew heavy and cold.
Ziiiiing!
A sharp ringing filled his ears, followed by a splitting headache.
It felt as though sharp awls were stabbing into his brain repeatedly.
Even through the pain, Zeon realized their ability.
“You’re telepaths.”
“As expected, you’re smart.”
“I don’t like people who are too smart.”
As Zeon had guessed, the twin sisters were telepathic awakened.
Eun Sujin and Eun Suyoung.
They had awakened their telepathic abilities at a young age.
Not only could they read others’ thoughts, but they could also directly interfere with them.
Because of that, they were abandoned even by their parents.
They had casually spoken out loud after reading their parents’ thoughts—and their parents, terrified, cast them aside.
—“Don’t ever show yourselves in front of me again. You monsters!”
Those were the last words their parents said as they abandoned them.
Those words left deep scars on the twins.
Fortunately, they were taken in by Jin Geumho, who recognized the value of their abilities, and raised within City Hall. Eventually, they became members of the Numbers.
Because of the trauma of being abandoned, they trusted no one deeply.
The only ones they somewhat trusted and followed were Jin Geumho and the old man.
Jin Geumho had given them a place to belong, and the old man cared for them purely, without ulterior motives.
The ability to read others’ thoughts was both a blessing and a curse.
Their talent only grew stronger over time.
Now, they had gone beyond merely interfering with thoughts—they could manipulate them in any direction they desired.
In other words, they had reached the level of mental control.
If they wished, they could show someone hallucinations or trap them in a dream they could never escape.
An ability to toy with another person’s brain as if kneading clay.
That was why those who knew their true nature feared them deeply.
“We’re not going to kill you.”
“We don’t like killing people.”
“We’ll just take a quick peek.”
“We’re curious.”
Eun Sujin and Eun Suyoung clasped hands.
At that moment, their power surged explosively.
As twins, they produced a synergy that amplified each other’s abilities.
The human brain was like a sealed chamber with no entrance.
To infiltrate it, one first had to pierce a tiny hole using a sharp awl.
That was the hardest part.
The stronger the awakened individual, the more solid their mental barrier, making it even harder to break through.
Alone, it wouldn’t have been an easy task.
But they were twins—and they knew exactly how to amplify each other’s power.
Eun Sujin spoke.
“I’ll make the hole. Focus your power on me.”
“Mm!”
Eun Suyoung responded, channeling her mana into Sujin.
At once, Sujin’s telepathic ability was amplified tremendously.
Sweat beaded on Sujin’s forehead.
Even with more than double the power, it was difficult to pierce Zeon’s mental barrier.
“Damn… this is hard.”
“Hang in there!”
“Mm!”
Encouraged by Suyoung, Sujin increased her output even further.
Still, not even the smallest crack formed in Zeon’s mental barrier.
“Crazy… At this level, he feels way stronger than the captain or Grain.”
Seong Hoyeon, the leader of the Numbers.
Grain, the second-in-command.
Both were S-rank awakened with extraordinarily strong mental fortitude.
Even for the twins, reading their thoughts required immense concentration, time, and mana.
They couldn’t read Mayor Jin Geumho’s mind at all, and there was no need to read the old man’s.
Aside from those two, Seong Hoyeon and Grain were the hardest to read—but Zeon’s mental barrier was even stronger than theirs.
“Ghh!”
Sujin gritted her teeth and pushed her power further.
Suyoung continued to support her.
After tremendous effort, they finally managed to pierce Zeon’s mental barrier with a hole no larger than a needle’s tip.
“Got it!”
Sujin exclaimed in triumph.
Making the hole was the difficult part—after that, things were easy.
Like injecting water through a tiny opening, she began sending her consciousness into Zeon’s mind.
Sujin immediately began the process of taking control of Zeon’s brain, with Suyoung supporting her.
In an instant, she infiltrated his brainstem.
Her goal was to seize control of the neural network there.
The brainstem was a critical passage connecting the cerebrum, cerebellum, and spinal cord.
Once this was secured, over ninety percent of the process could be considered complete.
That was why, when invading someone’s mind, the first step was always to take control of the brainstem’s neural pathways—then analyze the person’s mental image.
Everything about a person was contained within that mental image.
If you could break it down, you could understand their past, their actions, even their desires—and manipulate them as you wished.
It was a task Sujin had performed countless times, so she moved without hesitation.
After completely taking control of the brainstem, she followed the neural pathways into Zeon’s cerebrum and peered into his mental world.
She was curious what kind of past someone with such an unyielding mental barrier would have.
Gently, she parted the veil of darkness within Zeon’s mind.
At that very moment—
“W-what is this?!”
Sujin’s shrill scream rang out.