Chapter 192
The sight of the gigantic Sandworm exploding was spectacular.
Fragments of the Sandworm scattered in all directions, and a deep crater was carved into the ground.
At the very center stood Levin, still in his ghostly state.
The violet current that had been radiating from Levin gradually subsided, and his ghost form was released.
“Haah!”
Levin exhaled the breath he had been holding.
Entering the Sandworm’s belly to attack had been a gamble even for him.
He knew that becoming intangible made him immune to physical attacks, but willingly diving into a monster’s stomach was a completely different matter.
It required courage that did not fear death—and immense nerve.
Fortunately, Levin possessed both insight and guts.
He had risked his life, and the result was the Sandworm’s death.
Zeon patted Levin on the shoulder and said,
“Well done.”
“Hyung!”
“Just keep doing that from now on.”
“Got it!”
Levin nodded with a firm expression.
Zeon passed by Levin and approached the children who had been the Sandworm’s targets.
They looked to be around ten years old.
A boy who seemed to be the older brother, and a smaller girl beside him.
The clothes they wore, seemingly made from monster hide, resembled medieval leather armor.
It was a crude design never seen in Neo Seoul.
The two children stared at Zeon with frightened expressions.
The Sandworm that had chased them was terrifying—but the unfamiliar visitors who had easily killed it were even more frightening.
Zeon knelt on one knee to meet their gaze.
“Do you live here?”
“……”
“Where are the adults?”
“……”
Even after asking several times, the children kept their mouths shut and didn’t answer.
At that moment, Brielle stepped forward.
“Hi! My name is Brielle. As you can see, we’re not from around here—we’re just passing through. We’re not interested in you, and we don’t intend to harm you. So you don’t have to be so wary. We’ll just take you home and then leave.”
“……”
“If you’re not going to talk, we’ll just go. We’re really busy.”
“Y-You’ll really take us home and then leave?”
The boy finally gathered his courage and spoke.
Brielle gave a slight smile.
“Of course.”
“Th-Then… please.”
“Alright! But what are your names? At least tell us that.”
“My name is Jacob, and this is my little sister, Lucy.”
“Is it just the two of you? What about the others?”
“The adults who came with us… they’re all dead.”
Jacob glared at the remains of the Sandworm.
There was no need to hear more to understand what had happened.
They had likely come out with the adults and became the Sandworm’s target. The adults were all devoured, and only the children had barely survived and fled—only to run into Zeon and his group.
Zeon spoke,
“Lead the way. Don’t worry about monsters.”
“Yes!”
Jacob walked ahead with Lucy, and Zeon’s group followed behind.
Eloi approached Zeon and whispered quietly,
“Are you really planning to just take those kids back and leave?”
“We’ll see.”
“I never imagined we’d meet children in a place like this. How did they survive in such an environment?”
“I told you—humans can adapt and survive in any environment.”
“That’s one thing I’ll admit. Maybe that’s the biggest difference between elves and humans.”
Eloi smiled bitterly.
If elves had even half the adaptability of humans, they wouldn’t be living parasitically in Neo Seoul—they would have built a city of their own.
Of course, there were rumors of a mixed-race city called Elharun, but it wasn’t a city solely for elves.
If only elves had crossed over, they likely wouldn’t have been able to establish an independent force like that.
Jacob and Lucy kept glancing back as they walked.
At first, their expressions were filled with fear, but now curiosity was beginning to surface.
The two children were natives of this place.
They had been born and raised in the desert, and had never once come into contact with outsiders.
In their village, they were taught that all outsiders were enemies. The place was that isolated—completely cut off from the outside world.
Bringing outsiders to such a village didn’t seem like a good idea… but they had no choice.
The village wasn’t far from here, but the path was swarming with monsters.
There was no way two children could make it through such a dangerous route on their own.
In the end, they needed this group’s help to return home.
Lucy whispered to Jacob,
“Is it really okay to bring them? The adults won’t like it.”
“We don’t have a choice. Without them, how are we supposed to get back?”
“But still…”
“I’ll take responsibility. Don’t worry about anything.”
“Okay…”
Lucy looked at Jacob’s side profile with concern.
They were already treated like burdens in the village—she worried how much more scolding they would receive because of this.
Just then—
Awoooo!
A wolf’s howl echoed from the distance.
Jacob and Lucy’s expressions instantly changed.
“Flame wolves.”
“What do we do?”
“Damn it!”
Flame wolves were the most common monsters in this area.
They possessed the traits of both wolves and hyenas.
Once they set their sights on prey, they pursued it relentlessly—clinging on until death.
Most dangerous of all, they moved in packs.
Once they captured prey, they devoured even the bones, leaving not a trace behind.
Originally, this place wasn’t their habitat. But one day, a passing pack attacked and devoured humans.
After tasting human flesh, the Flame wolves never left—they settled here permanently.
Because of that, the villagers’ range of movement had become severely restricted.
Awooo!
A pack of Flame Wolves appeared, kicking up clouds of dust.
Flames flickered from their jaws and tails—that was how they got their name.
Overwhelmed by a deep, ingrained fear, Jacob and Lucy couldn’t even move; they just trembled in place.
At that moment, Eloi stepped forward.
She drew out her spear, Mad Fox of Madness, and charged toward the pack of Flame Wolves.
“Stupid mutts that don’t know fear—what you need is a good beating.”
Flame Wolves could gather in packs of hundreds, but the ones before her now numbered only a few dozen.
This wasn’t much of a threat to her.
“Chaa! Illusion Spear!”
Eloi’s spear split into dozens in an instant.
It was impossible to tell which was real and which was fake.
As the Flame Wolves faltered in confusion, her attacks rained down.
Boom! Boom!
Yelp!
Grrk!
Explosions and the wolves’ screams echoed together.
Over a dozen Flame Wolves had their throats crushed.
Then Eloi leapt into the remaining pack and swung her spear.
A one-sided massacre unfolded.
Every time she swung, three or four Flame Wolves died.
They were no match for her.
“Pathetic little things, acting all tough.”
In the blink of an eye, Eloi wiped them all out.
Jacob and Lucy stared at her in disbelief.
“How…?”
“She’s way stronger than the adults in the village.”
There were awakened individuals in their village too—but even they avoided Flame Wolves. Yet Eloi had eliminated the entire pack with ease.
If they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, they never would have believed it.
Levin, who killed the Sandworm instantly… Eloi, who wiped out a pack of Flame Wolves without effort…
The children couldn’t even begin to imagine how powerful this group truly was.
Eloi rummaged through the corpses of the dead Flame Wolves.
Unfortunately, she found no magic stones.
“Tch. Nothing but trash. Looks like they were stragglers from a larger pack.”
She returned to the group with a disappointed expression.
For the children, it had been a life-or-death event—but for her, it wasn’t even worth mentioning.
Zeon spoke to the children,
“No more monsters will block our path now. Let’s move.”
“Yes!”
Jacob answered and led Zeon’s group toward the village.
After about thirty minutes of walking, a sandstone mountain came into view.
It was only about a hundred meters tall, but its slope was so steep it rose almost vertically.
Halfway up the mountain, a large cave entrance was visible in the cliff face.
Men who appeared to be awakened individuals stood guard at the entrance.
Jacob said,
“That’s our village.”
“You built it in a place good for blocking monsters.”
It wouldn’t stop large creatures, but most smaller ones wouldn’t even dare try climbing that wall.
That was how the village had managed to survive until now.
Though its remote location meant it was completely cut off from the outside world.
As Zeon’s group approached, the guards shouted,
“Stop right there!”
“If you come any closer, we’ll attack!”
Their voices were filled with hostility.
“Wait! Uncle Jack, it’s us—Jacob and Lucy!”
“What? Why are you there? What happened to the others who went with you?”
“They were all killed in a Sandworm attack.”
“What…?”
“If it weren’t for them, we would’ve been eaten too.”
At Jacob’s words, the awakened guards exchanged glances.
Their village lived in total isolation, having completely cut off all contact with outsiders by their own choice.
So this was their first time seeing outsiders.
Unsure what to do, the guards said,
“Wait there. We’ll inform the elders.”
“At least let us in first.”
“We can’t. You made contact with outsiders without permission. Unless the elders approve, you cannot enter.”
“Damn it! Come on!”
“It’s the village rule.”
“Then at least let Lucy in! That’s not too much to ask!”
“There are no exceptions to the rules.”
At the cold response, Jacob bit his lip.
“Then hurry up and inform them.”
“Wait. Village matters follow procedure. And you people—stay put. If you try to enter without permission, we won’t let it slide.”
The guard also warned Zeon’s group.
Zeon simply shrugged, showing he had no hostile intent.
Levin whispered to Eloi,
“Something feels off about this village.”
“Yeah. Even those kids don’t seem very welcome.”
“I wonder what’s going on.”
“Don’t worry about it. We’re just passing through anyway.”
“Right… I was just curious.”
“Groups that closed-off tend to be hostile to outsiders. Even if we enter, we won’t be welcomed.”
Having lived long in Neo Seoul, Eloi understood human nature well.
Just from the atmosphere, she could tell how isolated and rigid this village was.
Lucy grabbed Jacob’s hand.
“Big brother… are you okay?”
“How can they treat us like this? Those people died because of them… damn old fools.”
“Careful! They’ll hear you!”
“Let them hear. A village like this should just collapse. Maybe then they’ll come to their senses.”
“Shh!”
Just then, about a dozen elderly figures appeared at the entrance.
They were the elders—the ones who truly held power in the village.
One of them stepped forward and spoke,
“Jacob, explain what happened. Why have you brought outsiders here?”
“We encountered a Sandworm while carrying out the mission you assigned us. Everyone died. If it weren’t for them, we would have died too.”
“Everyone… died?”
“Yes. Uncle Matthew, Uncle Buck, Aunt Sarah… they’re all gone. We were gathering Sun Flowers.”
“Hmm…”
“If we hadn’t met them, we’d be dead too. So please, let us in.”
“You two will wait. We will decide whether to let you in after speaking with them.”
The elders’ gaze shifted toward Zeon’s group.
Zeon could clearly sense the strong hostility contained in their eyes.