Chapter 229
Bang-bang-bang!
“Keugh!”
“Kugh!”
Fire Missiles slammed into the Awakeners.
They screamed and collapsed.
They were, after all, martial-type Awakeners.
Their bodies, reinforced by skills, were tough enough to ignore most attacks.
And Fire Missile was nothing more than a low-grade skill.
It was the most basic flame-type magic that any awakened fire user could cast. Naturally, its power wasn’t supposed to be anything special.
It might threaten ordinary people, but D- or E-rank Awakeners could block it without much difficulty.
That’s why they were confident they could easily defend against it.
But reality was different.
Zeon’s Fire Missiles were on an entirely different level from those of ordinary Awakeners.
They carried enough power to pierce through a D-rank martial-type Awakener.
Fortunately, Zeon had slightly reduced the power, so they didn’t die.
But the immense shock and searing heat inflicted unbearable pain.
“Gaaaah!”
“Damn it! Give me a potion! It’s too hot!”
The Awakeners writhed on the ground, crying out in agony.
The twin brothers’ expressions changed instantly as they saw their subordinates fall.
“Shit! What the hell? He’s strong.”
“What kind of monster did you bring here?”
The twins glared fiercely at Park Manho.
Park Manho couldn’t even make excuses and just shut his mouth tightly.
Damn it! Who knew he’d be this strong? What rank is he? He wiped them all out… at least C-rank? Damn it… I’m screwed.
His face turned pale.
The twin brothers looked at him with contempt before turning their gaze to Zeon.
“You’ve got some skill. Why don’t you join us instead? We’ll treat you very well.”
“Yeah! If you become our subordinate, no one in the Magic Stone Mine will dare touch you.”
At their offer, Zeon looked dumbfounded.
“Goran said the same thing before I killed him. And you’re worse than him—yet you want me to work under you? Are you out of your minds?”
“Goran? You mean the ruler of Sinchon? Then you’re—”
The older twin recognized Zeon’s identity and was shocked.
But the younger brother was slower to catch on.
He charged at Zeon like a bull.
“Fuck! Who cares about Goran? Just beat him to death. I’m not afraid of some flame magic.”
He trusted his body, harder than steel.
Even if Zeon fired dozens more Fire Missiles, he was confident he could endure them.
Shu-shu-shu!
A barrage of Fire Missiles flew toward him.
The younger brother crossed his arms in an X to protect his head.
This level of defense was enough.
After enduring the pain, he would grab Zeon by the waist and snap him in half. That would be his victory.
He was certain of it.
Boom-boom-boom!
But the moment the Fire Missiles struck his entire body, he realized how delusional his confidence had been.
Each Fire Missile carried more power than the skills of most martial-type Awakeners.
It felt like the parts of his body hit were about to be torn off.
His insides felt crushed, and the overwhelming pain made it seem like even his soul was being ripped away.
“AAAAAGH!”
With a desperate scream, he was blown backward.
Even as he watched his younger brother roll on the ground, covered in blood, the older twin couldn’t move.
Because of Zeon.
Behind Zeon, dozens of Fire Missiles floated once again.
Even flame-type Awakeners couldn’t normally produce Fire Missiles endlessly like that.
There was always a limit to mana.
But Zeon, continuously generating dozens of Fire Missiles without end, was abnormal.
Still, the older twin didn’t find it strange.
From what he had heard, this level of ability was as easy for Zeon as clipping his nails.
“The Sand Mage Zeon… the one who killed Goran, ruler of Sinchon. That’s you, isn’t it?”
Zeon simply shrugged. That was answer enough.
“Shit!”
The older twin cursed and glared at Park Manho.
Park Manho’s face had long since turned completely pale.
He hadn’t figured out Zeon’s identity, but just seeing all the Awakeners in the casino defeated was enough to terrify him.
There was no way the Awakeners here could handle Zeon.
To fight him, they’d need to mobilize the guards of the Magic Stone Mine—but those men didn’t take orders from Park Manho.
At that moment, the older twin raised both hands in surrender.
“It seems we made a mistake. My apologies.”
“Just words?”
“Of course not. We’ll open Park Manho’s vault.”
“That’s a given. What else?”
“…We’ll open ours too. Take whatever you want.”
When you bow, you bow properly.
If you half-heartedly try to save face, you end up with nothing.
At least his brother and subordinates weren’t dead.
Even if they lost everything, as long as they were alive, rebuilding wouldn’t be difficult.
Fortunately, the Magic Stone Mine was full of gambling addicts—plenty of fools eager to hand over their money themselves.
There was no reason to risk their lives fighting Zeon.
He was on a completely different level.
Killing Goran, the ruler of Sinchon, was among the least impressive things Zeon had done.
A Sand Mage who could freely control sand—
If he wanted, no one in this Magic Stone Mine would be able to return to Neo Seoul.
If he turned the sand at the mine’s entrance into quicksand, no vehicle could escape.
Making an enemy of someone with such absurd power was foolish.
So lowering their heads now was nothing to be ashamed of.
The older twin turned his gaze to Park Manho.
“And you.”
“Ghk!”
“Don’t think today will just pass quietly. We’ll make sure you pay every bit of the losses you caused.”
Park Manho lowered his head, avoiding the twin’s terrifying gaze.
Damn it… damn it…
At that moment, his mind was filled with nothing but despair.
Naturally, he couldn’t think of any way to escape, nor did he dare attempt it.
He only held power within the Magic Stone Mine—outside of it, he was nothing.
Clank! Click!
The older twin opened every vault.
Park Manho’s personal vault, and even the casino vault.
Zeon first examined Park Manho’s personal vault.
Inside was a fairly large mineral.
Is this really a mineral?
It was about the size of a child’s torso.
Its appearance resembled a magic stone, but no mana could be felt from it.
Yet for some reason, he couldn’t take his eyes off it.
When he touched it, warmth spread through his hand.
It felt different from mana.
A gentle, comforting energy flowed into his palm.
Zeon asked Park Manho,
“This was mined from the Magic Stone Mine?”
“Yes! It came from the same tunnel where the top-grade magic stones were found.”
Park Manho answered respectfully.
“Hmm.”
“It’s not a magic stone, but it must be valuable. These bastards didn’t recognize its worth, so they refused to take it…”
It came from the Magic Stone Mine, yet it wasn’t a magic stone.
It was natural that the twins hadn’t acknowledged its value.
If properly studied, its worth would surely be discovered.
But there was no reason to go through that trouble.
It was far more efficient to collect money from gambling addicts than to investigate some unknown mineral.
It’s definitely not ordinary. The fact that it was found in the Magic Stone Mine alone proves that.
Zeon didn’t know what it was either, but there was no harm in keeping it.
Above all, he liked the warmth it emitted.
“I’ll take this.”
Zeon stored the mineral in his subspace.
Next, he examined the casino vault.
Inside the large vault was an enormous pile of money.
At a glance, it looked like tens of millions of sols.
But Zeon only took a few tens of thousands.
That was enough.
Instead, what caught his attention were the items piled in one corner.
They were things gambling addicts had left as collateral.
Most were unimpressive—but one stood out.
A cauldron with three legs.
“What is this?”
“Oh, that? An Awakener who used to be part of a dungeon raid team left it as collateral. It came from a dungeon, but since no one knew what it was for, it was discarded.”
“Do you know which dungeon it came from?”
“I’m sorry. The bastard who left it is dead, so we don’t know.”
The Awakener who had gambled with the money he got from pawning the cauldron had gotten into a fight—and died.
Since then, the cauldron had remained in the vault.
“I’ll take this too.”
“Go ahead. You can take everything else as well.”
“I was planning to anyway.”
Zeon stored all the items in the vault into his subspace.
Most were far below his level, but they would be useful for Brielle or Levin.
Even as he watched Zeon take everything, the older twin didn’t show the slightest displeasure.
He believed this was the price he had to pay to be forgiven.
Fortunately, Zeon had no intention of escalating things further.
“I’ll be heading back now. Will today’s incident cause any problems?”
“There will be absolutely none.”
“You’re easy to talk to. I like that.”
“One of my strengths.”
“Nice.”
“Thank you.”
“Then I’ll be going. It was nice meeting you.”
“Safe travels.”
The older twin bowed at a ninety-degree angle to see Zeon off.
By the time he raised his head, Zeon had already left the casino.
The moment he confirmed Zeon was gone, his face twisted viciously.
“Park Manho, you piece of shit! Were you trying to ruin us?”
“N-no! That’s not what I—”
“How are you going to make up for this loss?”
“How was I supposed to know he was that strong? I’m a victim too!”
“You think he’s just strong? He’s a disaster, you idiot!”
“Th-that…”
“Fuck you! From today, you’re banned from this casino. You’ll repay this loss by mining magic stones yourself.”
“Y-you’re telling me to go work in the tunnels?”
“That’s right, you bastard. From today on, you’re not the mine manager anymore—you’re nothing. Just a miner. I’ll make sure of it.”
The older twin had the power to do exactly that.
Park Manho’s face turned deathly pale.
Before him, a road to hell had opened.
***
“So, something good happened?”
Brielle tilted her head as she looked at Zeon.
There was a smile on his face.
Zeon sat down and said,
“I ran into someone I know and got a few gifts.”
“Gifts?”
“Want to see?”
“Yeah.”
Brielle nodded quickly and sat down.
Zeon poured out everything he had taken from the casino.
“What? These are items.”
“They look decent?”
“Wait a second!”
Brielle cut him off and picked up one item.
It was the three-legged cauldron.
“Why is this here?”
“You recognize it?”
“The Furnace of Siela.”
“Siela?”
“The god who protects the High Elves.”
“Then this belongs to the High Elves?”
“Yeah! It’s a treasure they used for alchemy. I can’t believe I’m seeing it on Earth. I’ve only ever heard of it.”
Brielle hugged the Furnace of Siela tightly.
At that moment, a brilliant light burst out from the cauldron.
It had awakened upon contact with a High Elf.
A sacred light gently enveloped Brielle.