Chapter 178

Zeon raised his head.

The place he had fallen into was a massive underground space.

It was so vast that even with dozens of giant leeches rampaging, there was still plenty of room.

Indeed, despite the giant leeches that had fallen along with him writhing about, the space remained expansive.

“Is it a good thing that the quicksand is still flowing in here?”

Sand was flowing even in the underground chamber—but its movement wasn’t normal.

Some streams flowed like rivers, while others moved in reverse, as if waterfalls were flowing upward.

There were even streams of sand crawling sideways along the walls.

It was clear that some unknown force within this place was distorting the flow of sand at will.

“Interesting.”

Just as Zeon smiled—

Kiiieee!

With a screech, the giant leeches regained their senses and raised their heads.

Spotting Zeon, they launched their attack.

Boom!

A massive maw slammed down where Zeon had just been—but he had already moved elsewhere.

The other giant leeches chased after him.

Boom! Boom!

Zeon narrowly avoided every single attack.

Frustrated, the giant leeches shook their heads and shrieked.

Their grotesque appearance alone was enough to make one nauseous.

Zeon sent sand flying toward them.

The sand shot forward like a cobra raising its head—

It was Viper, the evolved form of Sand Blaster.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Viper repeatedly struck the giant leeches’ bodies.

However, their size was enormous, and their hides were thick—so they took little damage.

“They’re quite durable.”

It was expected, so Zeon wasn’t surprised.

He continued using various skills.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions rang out as the giant leeches’ bodies shook violently—but still, there was no significant damage.

Instead, as if angered, the creatures grew even more ferocious in their attacks.

Slash—!

One of the giant leeches suddenly extended its body dozens of meters, reaching Zeon in an instant.

Its enormous maw—large enough to swallow him whole—and rows of saw-like teeth were clearly visible.

At that moment, a cold smile appeared on Zeon’s lips.

“Let’s see if your insides are as tough as your shell.”

Whoosh!

From behind Zeon, a massive stream of sand shot forward and plunged straight into the giant leech’s mouth.

Rumble—!

The sand spun violently, piercing through the creature’s interior.

Its mouth, esophagus, and stomach were ground apart by the rotating sand.

Boom!

With a thunderous explosion, the giant leech’s body shattered.

Leeches scattered in all directions.

As the fusion broke apart, it split into thousands—tens of thousands—of smaller leeches.

The sight of countless small leeches writhing across the ground was utterly revolting.

But Zeon didn’t even blink.

He continued attacking the mouths of the remaining giant leeches.

Boom!
Boom!

Unable to withstand the internal damage, the giant leeches exploded one after another.

At the same time, the number of smaller leeches covering the ground increased exponentially.

The separated leeches spread out, turning the ground pitch black as they writhed.

After a brief moment of disorientation, they all surged toward Zeon.

The sight of the ground covered in wriggling leeches was horrifying enough to haunt one’s dreams.

Zeon looked down at the leeches approaching his feet with an indifferent gaze.

There was no emotion in his eyes.

That emotionless stare was chilling to the bone.

It was a look he had never shown in Neo Seoul.

This was Zeon’s true gaze.

For seven years, he had wandered the desert alone.

Magical beasts were dangerous—but the greatest threat had always been other humans.

He had encountered far too many people who smiled while stabbing others in the back.

Because of that, Zeon had completely shut off emotional connection with others.

He had locked away his heart.

That was the look in his eyes back then.

After returning to Neo Seoul, he had softened somewhat—but this was his original self.

With no one around, his true nature surfaced naturally.

Raising his right arm, Zeon muttered,

“There has to be a core somewhere.”

Swarm-type magical beasts always have a queen or boss entity acting as the core.

That was the nucleus of the entire swarm.

A boss capable of leading such a massive group would certainly be no ordinary creature.

Right now, it was hiding itself perfectly among the countless leeches.

With tens of thousands of them, it was impossible to distinguish which one was the core.

“If I can’t find it… then I’ll force it to reveal itself.”

A red glow burst from Zeon’s right arm.

“Fire Rain.”

Whoooosh!

A rain of fire poured down into the underground cavern.

The high-temperature flames rained down over the ground, densely covered with leeches.

Kiiieee!

The leeches shrieked as they writhed.

There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

The fire rain mercilessly burned them.

Without the protection of sand, the smaller leeches were helpless.

They tried to burrow back into the sand—but Zeon didn’t allow it.

He hardened the sand, leaving them no opening to dig into.

Thousands of small leeches were burned to death.

Yet the core still did not reveal itself.

That meant it could still endure.

Zeon cast Fire Rain once more.

Whoosh!

Another wave of scorching fire fell, killing countless more leeches.

“Huff… huff…”

Zeon panted heavily.

His mana, already nearly depleted, had now been completely exhausted by the two attacks.

As his mana ran dry, weakness overtook him, and he staggered.

At that moment—

Crack—!

From among the burned leeches, one slowly raised its head.

It was distinctly darker than the others—pitch black.

As if carefully observing Zeon’s condition, it stared at him intently.

‘That’s the one.’

Zeon instantly realized it was the core of the swarm.

The only one that remained unharmed even where Fire Rain had fallen.

A powerful wave of mana emanated from it.

That wave was directed straight at Zeon.

‘It’s checking whether I still have mana left.’

It was frighteningly cunning.

Despite commanding countless subordinates, it didn’t recklessly attack—it observed.

If Zeon had even a trace of mana left, it would likely hide itself back within the swarm.

The core possessed a skill that allowed it to detect mana.

That was why it could confirm that Zeon had none left.

And indeed, not a single drop of mana remained in Zeon’s body.

Then—

A grotesque sound flowed from the core.

Kiiieee—

It sounded like both laughter and a cry at the same time.

At its call, the other leeches reacted and gathered.

They began merging again into a giant leech.

But this time, it was different.

Instead of splitting into multiple forms like before, they unified into a single entity centered around the core.

A gigantic leech of an entirely different scale was born.

At the top of its head, the core protruded outward.

Confident that Zeon had no mana left, it had revealed itself.

A crimson force field enveloped the massive creature.

This was on a completely different level from before.

The core looked down at Zeon from the creature’s forehead.

It seemed to be mocking him.

Zeon’s gaze turned cold.

“How arrogant…”

The fact that it mocked him meant the core possessed emotions.

The more complex a magical beast’s emotions, the higher its rank.

The giant leech, with the core at its center, had now become an A-rank monster.

Meanwhile, Zeon had exhausted all his mana.

To anyone watching, Zeon was at an absolute disadvantage.

But Zeon had something he trusted.

Flash!

A brilliant light suddenly burst from his neck.

Elura’s Tear.

An absurd item that completely restores mana once per day.

Until now, Zeon had kept it hidden beneath his clothes—

and finally used it.

In an instant, his mana was fully restored.

There was no trace of exhaustion left in him.

Sensing this, the core writhed in visible shock.

With its keen perception, it had detected Zeon’s mana recovery.

Now, it could no longer separate itself from the fusion.

Its only option left was to attack.

With a shriek, the enormous body stretched toward Zeon.

Like a rubber band, it extended and struck where Zeon had been—

but he was no longer there.

Using sand as a foothold, Zeon floated in the air.

With an expressionless face, he spoke.

“Let’s start lightly… Claymore.”

BOOOOM!

In an instant, the sand surrounding the giant leech exploded all at once.

Each grain of sand became a deadly weapon, relentlessly striking its massive body.

Kiiieee!

The giant leech’s scream echoed through the underground cavern.

Though the force field prevented fatal damage, it took immense impact.

That shock inflicted severe pain on both the giant leech and the core.

Unfamiliar with such pain, the core thrashed wildly—and lost control.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

From the giant leech’s body, projectiles were fired.

It launched compressed masses of smaller leeches like artillery shells.

Zeon immediately condensed sand in front of him, forming a barrier.

The leech projectiles slammed into the sand shield.

Boom! BOOM!

Explosions erupted midair.

The impact caused the barrier to ripple—but it didn’t break.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The giant leech continued firing relentlessly.

Given its enormous size, it had an overwhelming number of smaller leeches.

No matter how many it fired, it showed no sign of depletion.

Zeon rode the sand, moving through the air.

The leech projectiles chased after him.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOOOM!

Explosions rang out continuously.

From within the smoke, Zeon waved his hand.

At that moment, the flow of sand changed.

The sand that had been moving erratically throughout the cavern surged upward at once under a stronger force.

Countless particles filled the underground space.

Within them, Zeon muttered,

“Sand is my battlefield. I’ll show you just how foolish it was to challenge me here.”

He extended his hand.

At once, the sand filling the cavern began to rotate around the giant leech.

Grrrrrr—

A grinding sound like interlocking gears echoed through the space.

It was Sand Mixer, one of Zeon’s primary skills.

The rapidly rotating sand particles began to erode the creature’s force field.

The giant leech tried to reinforce its barrier to protect itself—but it was useless.

Ordinary sand wouldn’t affect a force field.

But under Zeon’s control, it was no longer ordinary.

Like a skill from a magic-type awakened, it exerted powerful influence over the barrier.

Kiiieeeeee!

The giant leech convulsed in agony unlike anything it had ever experienced.

Its force field was forcibly stripped away.

The smaller leeches forming its outer layer were torn apart.

As its hardened exterior broke down and gaps formed, sand infiltrated its body.

Inside, the sand spun violently.

GRAAAANG!

Sand rotated both inside and outside the creature simultaneously.

BOOM!

The giant leech, once unified around the core, exploded.