Chapter 231
The gates of the Magic Stone Mine opened.
Now that the top-grade magic stone had been transported out, passage resumed as usual.
At the entrance, an armored bus was waiting.
It was a regular transport that traveled between Neo Seoul and the Magic Stone Mine.
Magic stones were loaded in the cargo compartment below, and Awakeners rode on the roof to protect the bus.
Unusually, the bus was packed with passengers.
Because service had been completely halted for the past few days, all the waiting travelers had rushed in at once.
Zeon’s group barely managed to find seats.
Levin looked out the window and asked,
“Aren’t Jang Yongbeom’s party coming with us?”
“They said they arranged a separate vehicle. Mountain’s too big—he can’t fit on a bus like this.”
“Ah.”
Levin nodded in understanding.
True to his name, Mountain had a body as large as a mountain.
No matter how much he squeezed himself, he wouldn’t even fit through the bus door.
It was better for them to travel separately.
The armored bus, packed with passengers, roared to life and began moving.
“We’re off.”
Brielle gazed out the window with excitement.
Because of her past of being captured by humans, she didn’t like Neo Seoul.
But after living with Zeon and Levin, the place that once felt like hell had become more comfortable than anywhere else.
She wanted to return home quickly, lie down in her bed, and sleep.
Levin and Eloi felt the same.
Knowing that Neo Seoul was close seemed to give them renewed energy.
They all looked out the window with anticipation.
The other passengers wore similar expressions.
Miners, dispatched Awakeners, merchants—everyone smiled at the thought of returning to Neo Seoul.
Zeon leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.
Sleepy.
Returning home always felt good—
no matter how filthy or miserable that place might be.
The problem was that Dongdaemun had half-occupied Sinchon, where his home was.
Johan… as expected, he doesn’t miss an opportunity.
By now, Johan had probably heard that Zeon had returned.
It was obvious how he would react.
As Zeon pondered what to do, he drifted off to sleep.
After some time, he felt a sudden jolt.
Opening his eyes, he saw the bus shaking violently as it passed over a large mound.
“What the—?”
“Why is it shaking so much?”
Others were startled and looked outside.
What they saw was a desert completely torn up and scattered.
“Stop the bus. Looks like there was a fight here.”
An Awakener riding on the roof shouted to the driver.
The driver quickly hit the brakes and stopped the bus.
The escorting Awakeners and Zeon’s group got off.
The remaining passengers stayed inside, peering out with curiosity.
Eloi frowned as she examined the surroundings.
“It looks like there was a pretty intense battle here. Look at the footprints.”
As she said, the area was covered in countless footprints.
The chaotic tracks clearly showed that a fierce fight had taken place.
“In the middle of this desert… who would fight here?”
Levin muttered, puzzled.
Neo Seoul was still quite far away.
Even if a battle had occurred here, there was no way for Neo Seoul to know.
Eloi spoke with a serious expression.
“Could it have been scavengers fighting each other? There’s nothing left, so it’s hard to tell.”
“They buried it deep in the sand.”
“What?”
“Wait a moment.”
Zeon gathered his power.
The sand began to move, and objects buried deep beneath it slowly rose to the surface.
Thud!
What emerged were the wreckage of a destroyed armored vehicle and buggy cars.
Eloi’s eyes shook.
“This is—?”
“The armored vehicle that left with the top-grade magic stone. Looks like they were ambushed here and wiped out.”
“NSSC Team 2… wiped out?”
“Seems that way.”
Zeon looked at the buggy with a grave expression.
Inside, the corpse of Team 2 leader Ji Sangwoo could be seen.
His neck had been half-severed, his head barely hanging on.
“It looks like they were taken out instantly—no chance to respond.”
“The leader of NSSC Team 2 couldn’t even react? Who could have done this?”
“We’ll find out. If we examine the bodies, there should be traces left behind.”
An Awakener’s skill always left traces.
If they could identify the skill, they could deduce the culprit.
Eloi clenched her teeth.
“If we find them, we won’t let them go. They dared attack a unit under City Hall? We’ll mobilize everything to crush them.”
At that moment, a chilling voice came from behind them.
“I doubt you’ll get that chance.”
“What?”
They turned around.
The Awakeners who had been riding on the bus roof were now standing nearby.
They were smiling, their white teeth exposed.
The moment they saw those eerie smiles, a sense of dread flashed through their minds.
“Don’t tell me… it was you?”
“Heh heh…”
Then—
BOOM!
The armored bus they had come on suddenly exploded.
The powerful blast instantly vaporized the vehicle.
The passengers inside disappeared without even a chance to scream—without leaving a trace.
“Ugh!”
“Ahh!”
Eloi and Brielle were thrown back by the explosion.
Levin collapsed, his eardrums ruptured.
Only Zeon stood firm, unaffected by the blast, staring at the Awakeners.
“You planted a bomb in the bus?”
“It’s a bomb developed to kill high-grade monsters. A bus like that wouldn’t leave even a trace behind.”
“If you were aiming for me, you chose the wrong timing. You should’ve blown it up while I was on the bus.”
“We already knew that wouldn’t be enough to kill you… Sand Mage.”
“So you knew who I was and still targeted me? Who sent you? Lee Jiryung? Johan?”
“Heh heh! Do you think we’d tell you?”
“If you won’t speak, I’ll make you.”
“You won’t get the chance.”
“What?”
At that moment, the necklaces hanging around the Awakeners’ necks began to glow brightly.
Sensing danger, Zeon quickly raised a sand barrier.
Boom! Boom!
The Awakeners’ bodies exploded.
The necklaces were self-destruct items.
Blazing heat and violent shockwaves swept through the area.
The force was so great that Zeon’s sand barrier was completely obliterated without a trace.
Even Zeon was shaken by the impact.
If not for the robe made from Leviathan’s hide, he would have suffered serious injuries.
“…Tch.”
Zeon brushed back his disheveled hair and looked at the site of the explosion.
Everything was gone.
Not only the Awakeners, but even the armored vehicle and buggy wreckage he had pulled up earlier.
Only a single thick plate from the armored vehicle remained.
Everything else had vanished.
“They self-destructed to erase all traces…”
With that, all clues to the attackers of the NSSC were gone.
And it had happened just as Zeon’s group passed through the area.
“Coincidence? No… this was a calculated ambush. There’s no way it’s a coincidence.”
The problem was their motive.
It didn’t quite make sense to say they were simply targeting the top-grade magic stone.
It was certainly valuable enough to risk one’s life—but considering the danger after stealing it, such a move wouldn’t be taken lightly.
Neo Seoul would undoubtedly mobilize everything to recover it.
One wrong step, and an entire organization could be wiped out.
Yet they acted without hesitation.
That meant either they were confident their identity wouldn’t be revealed—
or that they could evade Neo Seoul’s pursuit.
“Ugh… my ears…”
“Is everyone okay?”
“That hurts!”
Levin, Eloi, and Brielle slowly got back up.
Brielle quickly poured a potion into Levin’s ear, trying to stabilize him after his eardrums had ruptured.
Eloi shook her head and looked at where the Awakeners had self-destructed.
“What the hell were those guys? Blowing themselves up just to erase traces? Can people really throw away their lives that easily?”
“Normally, no.”
“Then what were they? They were smiling right before they died.”
“Yes. Smiling… like people being embraced by a god.”
“A god? Don’t tell me… fanatics?”
“Yes. That’s how those who follow Johan behave.”
“Damn it! Johan really did this?”
“I’m the one who’d cause him the most trouble if I return to Sinchon.”
Johan had already taken over half of Sinchon.
If Zeon returned, war would be inevitable.
So perhaps Johan was trying to eliminate him beforehand.
“The problem is… he knows this wouldn’t be enough to kill me.”
Zeon frowned deeply as he looked ahead.
Only the traces of the explosion remained—and even those would soon be buried by the shifting sands.
Only Zeon’s group knew that something major had happened here.
Then—
VROOOOM!
A loud engine roar echoed from afar.
“What’s that?”
“Vehicles?”
In the distance, buggy cars were racing toward them at terrifying speed.
They arrived in an instant, surrounding Zeon’s group.
Dozens of Awakeners stepped out.
Eloi recognized them.
“NSSC?”
They were the members of Teams 1 and 3—the remaining NSSC units.
Eloi approached them and spoke,
“Hey! I’m Supervisor Mandy from City Hall. You know me, right?”
Of course, they didn’t know she had a split personality, so she used the name Mandy.
“You bitch—how dare you kill my subordinates?!”
Suddenly, an unexpected attack came flying at her.
The NSSC captain swung a massive sword.
Eloi quickly summoned the Mad Nine-Tailed Fox and blocked the strike.
Clang!
“Ghk!”
With a thunderous impact, Eloi was pushed back.
Blood trickled from her lips.
She had taken damage from the sudden ambush.
Wiping the blood with her sleeve, she cursed,
“What the hell are you doing?!”
“What, you don’t know? You bastards ambushed and killed my men!”
The NSSC captain, Kevin, pointed his massive sword at her.
A terrifying killing intent radiated from his entire body.
An hour earlier, he had received a transmission from Team 2—
We’re under attack. Requesting backup. The attackers are— GAAH!
The transmission had cut off with Ji Sangwoo’s scream.
Immediately, Kevin had mobilized all NSSC units and rushed here.
Eloi desperately tried to explain,
“We didn’t kill anyone.”
“Then what’s that?”
Kevin pointed to the torn metal plate of the armored vehicle.
It was the wreckage of Team 2’s transport.
Eloi’s face stiffened.
She realized that no matter what she said, it wouldn’t matter.
Everything pointed to them as the culprits.
There was no way excuses would work against someone already convinced.
Zeon spoke to Eloi,
“This… was their real trap.”
“The real trap?”
“If we kill them, we’ll be forced into war with Neo Seoul. We can’t let that happen.”
“Johan… that bastard…”
Eloi ground her teeth in frustration.
Just as she was about to lash out, Zeon pressed down on her shoulder and spoke instead—
“We surrender.”
“You kill my men and now you surrender?”
“Yes. We surrender.”
“You think this is a joke, you bastard?”
“You wouldn’t attack someone who’s surrendering… would you?”
Zeon raised both hands calmly.