Chapter 232
Clank! Clank!
Handcuffs were locked onto the wrists of Zeon and Eloi.
They weren’t ordinary handcuffs.
They were restraining devices that controlled the flow of mana.
The moment someone wore these cuffs—an advanced product of Neo Seoul’s technology—their mana would instantly harden like stone and stop moving.
In other words, any skill that used mana became completely unusable.
Eloi, now cuffed, began shouting at the top of his lungs.
“Fuck! We didn’t kill them. Are you blind? Or are your eyes just for decoration? Does this really look like something we did?!”
“Shut up!”
An NSSC Awakened slapped tape over Eloi’s mouth and shoved him into a buggy.
“I’ll get in myself.”
Zeon smiled faintly as he climbed into the buggy on his own.
Kevin glared at him with cold, menacing eyes.
“What are you plotting? Do you think this will make me go easy on you?”
“The truth will come out. I just don’t feel like spilling blood with you right now.”
“So you’ll deny it to the end.”
“If I had really killed them, you wouldn’t have found even a trace.”
“….”
“Anyway, the truth will reveal itself soon.”
With that, Zeon tightly shut his mouth.
Kevin’s jaw muscles twitched.
He knew Zeon was a sand mage.
If Zeon had truly intended to hide all traces, then no matter how hard NSSC tried, they wouldn’t have even found the location where Team 2 was wiped out.
‘Could what he said actually be true?’
Doubt began to creep into Kevin’s mind.
Just then, the Awakened reported back.
“There’s no one around.”
“The explosion vaporized everything.”
Kevin looked around.
All he could see was sand.
There was nowhere to hide, and nothing to conceal anything.
What you saw was all there was.
Kevin nodded and climbed into the buggy.
“Everyone, return to Neo Seoul.”
“Yes, sir!”
The NSSC immediately left the scene.
After they were gone, something emerged from the sand.
Like a specter, a translucent figure appeared—it was Levin.
Levin turning into a ghost wasn’t surprising. His main skill was ghostification.
What was surprising was the translucent girl beside him.
It was Brielle.
Just like Levin, she had become semi-transparent.
“This…?”
“Surprised?”
“You can turn other people into ghosts too?”
“You have to stay in contact. It only works through touch.”
As if proving his words, Levin was tightly holding Brielle’s hand.
After reaching B-rank, he had acquired new skills.
One of them allowed him to turn others into ghosts through physical contact.
At best, it only worked on one additional person, but its usefulness had increased significantly.
The moment NSSC appeared, Zeon had told Levin:
‘You guys hide.’
Without hesitation, Levin grabbed Brielle’s hand and activated ghostification.
The two hid beneath the sand while in ghost form.
Even Kevin, the sharp-sensed leader of NSSC, failed to detect them—and that’s why he left the scene without suspicion.
Watching the buggy disappear into the distance, Brielle spoke.
“Zeon told us to hide… that means he wants us to find evidence, right?”
“Yeah! We need to find proof that Johan planned and orchestrated all of this.”
“Can we really do it on our own?”
“Even if we can’t, we’ll make it possible.”
“Let’s head back to the slums first. If we start digging from there, something will turn up.”
“Not bad! You’re not even panicking.”
Levin looked at Brielle with approval.
Brielle pouted her lips.
“I’ve been through too much at the hands of humans. You’d be the same if you were locked underground making drugs day and night like me.”
“You’re stronger than me.”
“As long as you know that. Let’s move.”
“Right!”
Levin nodded and moved while still in ghost form.
Brielle followed him, flying through the air alongside him.
—
In front of a massive cross, a man dressed in priestly robes was praying.
After reciting his prayer for a long time, he finally opened his eyes.
His neatly combed-back hair, thick-rimmed glasses, and small curved eyes gave him a distinctive look.
This middle-aged man was Johan—the ruler of Dongdaemun.
Seemingly satisfied with his prayer, Johan smiled.
“Good. Very good. I have a feeling something good is going to happen.”
His body felt refreshed, as if he had received a blessing.
Whenever he felt like this, something pleasant always occurred.
And this time was no different.
“Zeon has been captured by the NSSC.”
Joshua, an inquisitor, delivered the good news.
“Are you certain?”
“I confirmed it with my own eyes. He’s currently imprisoned in an NSSC facility.”
“Is the NSSC prison reliable?”
“It’s located 50 meters underground. Made of special metal, nothing—neither sand nor any external substance—can penetrate it. On top of that, it completely blocks external mana flow, so Awakened can’t use their abilities.”
“Excellent.”
Johan smiled with satisfaction.
Neo Seoul’s scientific technology, fused with magic, had far surpassed Earth’s level from a hundred years ago.
Scientists had developed tools to control the Awakened—one of them being mana-restraining handcuffs.
And the advanced version of that was the NSSC prison.
Inside that perfectly sealed space, completely cut off from the outside world, mana couldn’t be used at all.
For an Awakened, it was the worst possible environment.
While imprisoned in the NSSC facility, Zeon could not use his power at all.
“To hand over such valuable information… I really chose my business partner well.”
“Lee Jiryung is not someone you can trust.”
“Are you giving me advice right now, Joshua?”
“No… I’m just worried…”
“I know exactly what you’re worried about. But you don’t need to worry at all. God is on our side.”
A chilling smile spread across Johan’s lips as he looked up at the massive cross.
Faced with that expression, the inquisitor Joshua couldn’t say another word.
Johan stood at the very top of Dongdaemun.
Countless holy knights and clergy moved under his command.
His orders were equivalent to God’s will.
Johan spoke.
“Now that the obstacle is gone, we can fully take control of Sinchon. Find Eaton and eliminate him, then build a holy temple of God at their base.”
Joshua trembled.
He could smell a thick scent of blood in Johan’s voice.
The opening act of a war to seize dominance over the slums had begun.
There was no telling how many would die.
Even Joshua, who was accustomed to bloodshed, trembled uncontrollably in fear.
—
“Incredible.”
That was Zeon’s impression as he sat inside the prison.
It truly was remarkable.
The walls surrounding him were seamless and smooth, without a single joint, and all mana was completely blocked—he couldn’t feel even the slightest trace.
For an Awakened, it was the worst possible environment.
“Damn it! Why did you let them capture us so easily? We have no reason to be stuck here!”
Right beside him, Eloi shouted angrily.
Having lost her “Mad Fox,” Eloi was furious to the extreme.
The moment her most treasured weapon was taken from her, anxiety took over and destabilized her mind.
Because of that, she kept pacing back and forth, muttering nonsense in agitation.
Zeon understood her.
If he had lost his Gauntlet of Extreme Heat, he might have reacted the same way.
Fortunately, he hadn’t lost it.
More precisely, NSSC hadn’t been able to remove it from him.
The Gauntlet of Extreme Heat, embedded with a dragon’s eye, could not be removed without Zeon’s consent.
Since they couldn’t cut off his arm, NSSC had instead wrapped his right arm with a restraining device.
In that state, the item’s power couldn’t be used at all.
As a result, Zeon couldn’t even open his subspace.
His abilities were completely sealed.
And yet, Zeon didn’t look anxious at all.
Instead, he examined the prison and admired Neo Seoul’s technology.
“No wonder other colonies can’t keep up.”
The technological gap between Neo Seoul and other colonies was at least several decades.
Compared to newly built colonies like the Steel Fortress, the gap exceeded a hundred years.
That meant even with a century of effort, they could barely catch up.
But during that time, Neo Seoul wouldn’t stand still either—so the gap would never truly close.
There was no way to bridge that difference.
Well… there was exactly one way.
If Neo Seoul were to collapse completely.
But under current circumstances, that was impossible.
Unless the same catastrophe that turned Earth into a desert a hundred years ago happened again, Neo Seoul would never fall.
After finally calming down, Eloi asked Zeon:
“So what do we do now?”
“We wait.”
“For what?”
“If we stay here, someone will definitely come to contact us.”
“Who?”
“Anyone.”
“Isn’t that a bit irresponsible?”
“Calm down. They don’t expect us to stay locked up here for long.”
“They?”
“The ones who set this whole thing up.”
“…You mean Johan?”
“Johan is one of them, yes.”
“Fine. So we’re getting out soon, right?”
“Yes.”
“Phew…”
Hearing Zeon’s firm answer, Eloi calmed down a little.
After catching her breath, she apologized.
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine. I’d react the same if my weapon were taken.”
“Thanks for understanding.”
“Just think of this as a break before a big fight.”
“A big fight… yeah, I guess.”
Eloi clenched her fists tightly.
There was no way those who had pushed them into such a trap would stay quiet.
Whether they liked it or not, a fierce battle was inevitable.
Until then, they needed to rest and prepare themselves in peak condition.
“…Honestly, it feels like Mandy should be here instead of me right now. She’d stay much calmer.”
Suddenly, Eloi’s expression changed.
Zeon asked,
“Mandy?”
“Yes… sorry. Eloi got carried away for no reason.”
“It’s fine.”
“When the fight begins, she’ll take the front again. Until then, I’ll stay out.”
“You don’t need my permission. Do whatever feels comfortable.”
“Thank you, as always. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have made it back safely.”
Mandy bowed her head in gratitude.
Zeon looked slightly embarrassed.
At that moment—
Bang! Bang!
Someone suddenly knocked on the prison door.
Zeon turned toward it.
A small window slid open, revealing someone’s face.
Messy white hair. Wrinkles around the eyes.
Zeon immediately recognized him.
“Old Man Go?”
“It’s been a while.”
The old man smiling warmly at Zeon was none other than Old Man Go, a member of the Numbers.
“We’re here too.”
Familiar voices came from both sides of him.
It was the twin sisters, Eun Sujin and Eun Suyoung, who always accompanied him.
They stepped up onto a foothold and peeked their faces through the window.
“Hi!”
They waved cheerfully.