Chapter 143

Damian looked at the collapsed mammoth, breathing heavily, with a bitter expression.

It was the only legacy left behind by his dead father.

For eight long years after his father’s death, they had shared life and hardship together.

Thanks to the mammoth, he had been able to grow the White Bear Caravan to its current size.

Without it, the Damian of today would not exist.

And now, that very companion lay fallen, waiting for death.

Their eyes met.

There wasn’t a trace of resentment in the mammoth’s large gaze as it looked at him.

“Thank you. Go ahead and wait for me. I’ll be there soon.”

At that moment, the mammoth closed its eyes.

Its breathing stopped.

Swallowing his grief, Damian turned his gaze back to the battlefield.

Inside the fortress had become a complete war zone.

Not just scavengers, but Dongdaemun awakened and even unidentified awakened fighters had joined in.

Because of that, the White Bear Caravan’s awakened were being pushed onto the defensive.

If not for the fortress—filled with traps, items, and magic—they would have already been wiped out.

BOOM!

One of the cargo wagons exploded, sweeping away nearby scavengers and Dongdaemun awakened.

“Aaagh!”

“Guh!”

Arms were blown off, legs torn from bodies.

Those caught in the explosion rolled across the ground in horrific states.

Those who died instantly were fortunate.

Those who barely survived lay there in agony, gasping for breath in grotesque conditions.

Other scavengers and awakened mercilessly trampled over them.

The crushed survivors couldn’t even scream before their lives were extinguished.

“There are valuable items on the fourth floor!”

“Damn it! We need to loot the fifth floor—the Spirit King’s Crown is there!”

“Move, you bastards!”

The scavengers pushed past the devastated second floor and surged toward the third.

On the third floor, White Bear Caravan awakened were waiting.

Damian spoke to them.

“Activate the traps.”

“Got it!”

One of them responded and triggered the mechanism.

In an instant, countless arrows shot out from the walls.

Thwip-thwip-thwip!

“Aaagh!”

“Gah!”

The attackers collapsed like porcupines, riddled with arrows.

They were all wearing high-grade armor—strong enough to deflect most monster attacks.

But it was useless against the arrows fired from the walls.

Damian muttered,

“These are all items excavated from dungeons. Ordinary craftsmanship can’t block them.”

Most people thought of dungeon rewards as just the core items.

They would conquer a dungeon, take the loot, and leave without a second thought.

But Damian was different.

Many dungeons were filled with traps.

He didn’t just dismantle them—he brought out all their components.

Then he installed those parts into the caravan’s wagons.

He had recycled everything thoroughly.

At that moment, Alexandro approached him.

His entire body was covered in blood.

That alone showed how many he had killed.

“Heh… feels like all of Neo Seoul’s awakened have shown up. No matter how many we kill, they just keep coming.”

“You’re whining over just this?”

“Whining? Try fighting out there yourself and see if you can say that.”

“This is only a small fraction of Neo Seoul’s forces. If their true power steps in, we’ll be erased instantly.”

“Yeah… just looking at the mayor, you can tell. If he really wanted to, we wouldn’t even dare attempt something like this.”

“Exactly. For some reason, he’s choosing to observe. Thanks to that, we got our chance.”

The chaos had already reached its peak.

Scavengers, Dongdaemun awakened, and unidentified fighters were rampaging through the fortress.

If they had cooperated, even all these traps wouldn’t have been enough to hold them off.

Fortunately, they were also interfering with and attacking each other.

Because of that, the White Bear Caravan was barely holding on.

Alexandro grinned.

“This is exhilarating. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a fight like this.”

“What about the ‘guest’?”

“Heh, already sent him out. He kept whining that he didn’t want to go, so I kicked him out.”

“Well done.”

Damian smiled.

The “guest” was an awakened with a subspace ability.

Not an item—but his own power.

His subspace was enormous.

Large enough to store every item the White Bear Caravan had brought.

In truth, as long as he was there, they wouldn’t have needed to drag all those wagons behind the mammoth.

But they had used the wagons deliberately—to protect him from others.

Subspace items were rare.

Subspace-type awakened were even rarer.

And someone with a space as vast as his was practically unheard of.

Alexandro had stored all the mana stones earned from selling items into the guest’s subspace.

He had entrusted the fate of the Yakutsk Colony to that man.

After all, Neo Seoul had reached such a high level of development because of its mana stone mines.

A stable supply of mana stones had made its advanced civilization possible.

In contrast, Yakutsk Colony struggled to obtain mana stones.

Occasionally, they could harvest some from monsters, but the quantity was small and the quality inconsistent.

On the other hand, there were many dungeons nearby, making items relatively easy to acquire.

Some might argue that dungeon items were more valuable—and they wouldn’t be entirely wrong.

Equipping good items certainly enhanced the strength of awakened, making it easier to protect people from monsters.

But items alone could not rebuild civilization.

To achieve a level of development like Neo Seoul—

mana stones were absolutely essential.

That was the reason Alexandro had come here with Damian.

If they had been dealing with ordinary items or goods, there was no way they could have obtained such a massive amount of mana stones from Neo Seoul.

Even Neo Seoul managed its mana stone supply strategically.

That was why they had to scatter items tempting enough to draw attention.

As a result, they had secured an enormous quantity of mana stones—and with them, even if they couldn’t reach Neo Seoul’s level, they could still rebuild a significant portion of civilization.

If that became possible, Alexandro didn’t care what happened to his own life.

“You didn’t just send the guest alone, right?”

“Of course not. Just like we discussed, I sent Ellen and the others with him.”

Ellen was a navigator like Damian.

However, his ability was far inferior.

So during their journey here, Damian had trained him intensively.

He passed on all his knowledge and made him memorize the entire route.

Fortunately, Ellen had an excellent memory and successfully memorized the path.

“I showed him a safe route, so as long as he doesn’t stray, he’ll make it back to Yakutsk safely.”

“Heh, he better. He’s our colony’s last hope.”

Alexandro grinned, baring his teeth like a massive polar bear anticipating its prey.

Damian spoke quietly.

“I’m sorry… this all happened because of me…”

“I told you not to say that. We’re brothers.”

“That’s a loss for me, considering the age difference.”

“Hey! That kind of thing doesn’t matter. Don’t go hurting your old brother’s feelings.”

“Heh, alright. For such a big guy, you’re pretty sensitive.”

“That’s because you keep drawing a line between us.”

“I’m not drawing a line—I just feel sorry.”

“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. Thanks to you, we’ve experienced things most people never will in their entire lives. That’s enough to call life a success.”

“That’s a relief.”

At that moment—

BOOM!

“Aaagh!”

With an explosion, one of the White Bear Caravan’s awakened guarding the third floor was blown away, reduced to a mangled corpse.

The one who sent him flying was a massive awakened, as large as Alexandro.

It was Brixton, the leader of the Dongdaemun berserkers.

Behind him, Dongdaemun awakened charged forward.

“Nothing else matters. Secure the Spirit King’s Crown first.”

That was their goal as well.

Damian let out a dry chuckle.

“Do they even know what kind of thing the Spirit King’s Crown is, rushing in like rabid beasts?”

The world was not so beautiful.

Behind beautiful names often lurked something grotesque.

The Spirit King’s Crown was one such thing.

But its power—that part was real.

CRASH!

“Guh!”

Another White Bear Caravan awakened was smashed into pulp by Brixton’s hammer.

Brixton advanced relentlessly.

Like a giant beast, he crushed and killed everything in his path.

Alexandro spoke.

“This won’t do. If we leave that bastard alone, all my people will die.”

“Captain!”

“We need to hold out until those elf bastards take the bait.”

Damian bit his lip instead of replying.

The situation was becoming increasingly desperate.

They were barely holding on with traps and items—but even that was reaching its limit.

At this rate, the White Bear Caravan would be wiped out in no time.

Then—

A group could be seen approaching from afar.

Figures with their faces and bodies hidden under robes and cloaks.

The moment Damian saw them, chills ran down his spine.

“Elves.”

They thought they had concealed their identities—but they couldn’t hide their slender physiques.

One or two might have passed unnoticed.

But hundreds?

Only one race could match that description.

Damian spoke to Alexandro.

“The elves are coming. Three minutes—just hold out for three minutes.”

“Got it!”

Alexandro nodded and leapt down to the third floor.

“HAHAHA! I’ll be your opponent, you fanatic bastard!”

He swung his fist at Brixton.

A massive gauntlet covered his hand.

“You bald bastard…!”

Brixton swung his enormous hammer in response.

CLAAANG!

The gauntlet and hammer collided, unleashing a tremendous shockwave.

“Guh!”

“Damn it!”

The shockwave sent the surrounding fanatics and awakened flying backward.

Both Brixton and Alexandro staggered from the impact.

But only for a moment.

They quickly regained their footing and charged at each other again.

BOOOOM!

It was like watching two massive beasts clash.

The battle was so intense that no other awakened dared interfere.

The fierce fight continued.

Thanks to Alexandro holding the line, Damian finally had a moment to breathe.

He turned his gaze toward the rapidly approaching elves.

“Come on, you bastards.”

As if responding, the elves accelerated.

No matter how much they disguised themselves as humans, they couldn’t deceive Damian.

He recognized them instantly.

Hatred sharpened his perception.

“Intruders from another world. Parasites who dared to settle in human territory. Come—I'm waiting for you right here.”

Damian’s eyes were bloodshot.

For this one day—

He had lived relentlessly for eight years.

He had never slept peacefully, treating every moment as if it were his last.

As if hearing his call, the elves closed in rapidly.

The madness in Damian’s smile deepened.

At that moment, he saw a figure in the distance—riding a sandstorm toward them.

Though too far to make out clearly, Damian instantly recognized him.

“Hyung!”

The only person to whom he owed a debt of the heart—

Zeon.

Damian murmured toward him.

“Sorry, hyung… you can’t come here. If you interfere, the plan I’ve drawn will fall apart.”

The one and only being in this world who could control sand.

If he intervened, Damian would be forced to change everything.

And he didn’t want that.

Damian whispered,

“Activate—Spectrum Prison.”

In that instant, a massive magic circle appeared around the fortress.

Formed of seven lights, it expanded—

and swallowed everything.

Zeon, the elves, and even those fighting inside the fortress.