Chapter 242
Shuuuu!
Hundreds of lava masses, each as large as an adult’s torso, shot toward Lee Jiryung like meteors.
Lee Jiryung hurriedly spread out a curtain of lightning to block the lava assault.
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG!
With a thunderous explosion, Lee Jiryung’s body shook violently.
The lava chunks hammered against the lightning barrier like giant drums.
Drip!
Black blood seeped from the corners of his lips.
That was how overwhelming the impact was.
‘Damn it!’
Lee Jiryung immediately launched a counterattack.
His strongest skill was Thunder God’s Hammer, but he couldn’t use it recklessly.
The stronger the power, the more terrifying the mana consumption, and it also required a complicated process before it could be activated again.
It wasn’t a skill suited for a desperate moment like this.
Dozens of bolts of lightning fired simultaneously.
Like Zeon, he had resorted to overwhelming force through sheer numbers.
Having unleashed dozens of attacks, he was certain at least a few would strike Zeon.
But contrary to his expectations, every bolt of lightning collided with the gigantic lava masses Zeon had launched.
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA!
The lava masses shattered apart, scattering blazing fragments everywhere.
At that moment, Lee Jiryung noticed massive steel rebars embedded within the lava.
They were steel frames from the wreckage of the NSSC.
Only then did Lee Jiryung realize why his lightning had been drawn toward the lava masses.
“Did he use the rebars as lightning rods?”
Like most buildings, the NSSC headquarters had been built around steel reinforcement frames.
Now that the NSSC headquarters had been destroyed, rebar debris was scattered everywhere.
In other words, materials Zeon could use as lightning rods were all around him.
Kwarrr!
The lava gathered around the steel rebars.
Just before the scorching lava completely melted the steel, it flew toward Lee Jiryung.
Lee Jiryung dodged the lava and fired lightning at Zeon, but the lightning was drawn toward the rebars and struck the lava instead.
BOOM!
The massive lava exploded upon impact with the lightning, spraying sparks toward Lee Jiryung.
Lee Jiryung’s face twisted.
As an awakened who controlled lightning, he possessed tremendous resistance to high-voltage electricity, but he had no resistance to extreme heat.
To make matters worse, Sand Gehenna had already spread across the area.
The land itself, where the sand had melted and burned like lava, rejected him.
Quite literally, this was Zeon’s domain.
“Damn it!”
Lee Jiryung realized all his plans had fallen apart.
Originally, his plan had been to kill Zeon without leaving behind any evidence and then quietly escape.
But when the NSSC building exploded, everyone in the surrounding area saw his face.
Now there was no way to deny it or pretend nothing had happened.
One way or another, Neo Seoul would punish him.
Only two options remained now.
Either flee into the desert and become a scavenger… or accept punishment and serve his sentence.
But both options required one condition first:
He had to kill Zeon.
‘So in the end… you’re forcing me to bet everything.’
With a resolute expression, Lee Jiryung stared at Zeon.
It felt as though an enormous wall stood before him.
If he couldn’t overcome that wall, he would never reach the place where Jin Geum-ho stood.
Pajijijik!
Lightning engulfed his entire body.
Rather than releasing lightning outward, he himself became lightning.
The skill he awakened upon becoming S-rank—Fury of Thunderer.
Having transformed into the Thunder God himself, Lee Jiryung shot toward Zeon.
Without thinking about the aftermath, he poured every last bit of his remaining mana into this single attack.
Pat!
Zeon also kicked off the ground and shot forward.
The lava that had transformed the area into a flaming hell rose up alongside him.
Whiiirrr!
The lava spiraled violently around Zeon.
Wrapped in lava, Zeon resembled a gigantic fire spear.
JJEOOONG!
The Thunder God and the lava spear collided midair.
The aftermath was catastrophic.
Many of the buildings near the NSSC headquarters were blown apart, and the devastating shockwave swept through the area like blades.
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG!
A chain of explosions erupted, and countless awakened were caught in the blast and lost their lives.
Those who barely survived stared blankly at the place where the NSSC headquarters had once stood.
A gigantic crater, as though a meteor had fallen there, had been carved into the ground, while nearby buildings were so badly damaged they barely retained their shapes.
Even this level of destruction was only possible because the protective magic formation spread across Neo Seoul had minimized the damage.
It was nothing short of a catastrophe.
“How is this even a fight between humans?”
“So all S-rank awakened are monsters like this? Then just how terrifying are the rulers of each district?”
If Lee Jiryung, who had only recently become S-rank, was already this powerful, they couldn’t even imagine the level of the rulers who had reached S-rank long ago.
The awakened stared at the massive crater with fear-filled expressions.
There, Zeon and Lee Jiryung stood facing each other.
“Heh… I ended up looking pathetic. I struggled so desperately, yet in the end I was still in the palm of your hand.”
Lee Jiryung’s self-mocking laughter echoed through the flames.
The superheated fire had now spread across even his face.
His hair, eyeballs, and vocal cords melted away one after another.
Even so, Lee Jiryung stood firm, staring toward where Zeon was.
That was his final shred of pride.
Just by appearances alone, no one could tell who had won and who had lost.
Then it happened.
Fwoosh!
Suddenly, flames burst from Lee Jiryung’s feet.
The pure white flames instantly devoured his lower body before consuming his chest as well.
“T-that…”
“The captain…”
At that moment, the victor of the battle was decided.
Zeon was pale as death, without a trace of color in his face, but he still stood on both legs.
Meanwhile, Lee Jiryung was swallowed by the raging flames.
From within the inferno, Lee Jiryung opened his mouth.
“You’re strong. From the beginning… you were never an opponent I could defeat.”
“……”
“Isn’t that right?”
The defeated hero who had dreamed of becoming the ruler of Neo Seoul met his end there, his wings broken as he was reduced to ashes within the flames.
At that moment—
“No!”
Someone’s sharp cry echoed through the area.
It was Kelda, who had been fiercely battling Eloi nearby.
The moment she saw Lee Jiryung die, Kelda ran over like a madwoman. But by the time she arrived, Lee Jiryung had already burned away without leaving behind even a trace.
“No… this can’t be! Captain…”
Kelda clawed at the dirt where Lee Jiryung had stood, tears streaming from her eyes.
Blood spread across the area around her heart.
The instant her attention had been diverted to Lee Jiryung, Eloi’s spear had pierced her heart.
“Captain! It’ll be lonely if you go alone. I’ll come with you. Even there… keep glaring at the heavens…”
Kelda’s voice gradually faded, and then her head slumped lifelessly.
Her breathing had stopped.
“Haa…”
Only then did Eloi finally release the breath she had been holding in.
Kelda had been an unbelievably tough opponent.
If Kelda’s attention hadn’t faltered because of Lee Jiryung’s death, it would have taken far longer to defeat her.
“This can’t be…”
“The captain…”
The surviving Pegasus Raid Force awakened couldn’t hide their confusion.
The center of the Pegasus Raid Force had always been Lee Jiryung.
It was his overwhelming charisma and leadership that had held the group together without problems.
Especially for those who had joined recently, their dependence on Lee Jiryung was extreme.
So with his death, they no longer knew what to do.
To make matters worse, the key figures capable of restoring order were dead as well.
The deaths of Bronson, the raid team leader, and Kelda, the secretary and rescue team leader, accelerated the collapse of the Pegasus Raid Force, whose unity had already been as fragile as sand.
“Fuck this! I’m leaving the group.”
“You’re just going to leave? We have to avenge the captain.”
“How? You saw it too. That sand mage is a monster. I don’t want to burn to death like that.”
“But still…”
“If you want revenge, then you do it. I’m out.”
Just as people started abandoning the group one after another—
“What the hell is this?”
“The headquarters is completely destroyed!”
“Arrest them all!”
The NSSC forces that had been drawn away outside because of the terrorist attack had returned.
Seeing the NSSC headquarters utterly destroyed, the NSSC awakened lost their minds and attacked the Pegasus Raid Force members, capturing them.
Zeon silently watched the entire scene.
He too had suffered serious injuries while fighting Lee Jiryung.
Even so, he never showed any signs of wavering or exhaustion.
Neo Seoul was the kind of place where the moment you looked weak, people would mock you and devour you alive.
No matter how much pain he was in, no matter how close to death he felt, he had to endure it.
Someone cautiously approached Zeon.
It was Kevin, the captain of the NSSC.
Fear lingered in Kevin’s eyes as he looked at Zeon.
Even an idiot would understand what had happened by this point.
Kevin was no idiot.
The fact that he realized the terrorist attack was fake and immediately redirected his forces back to the NSSC proved that.
The problem was Zeon.
A monster powerful enough to burn an S-rank awakened like Lee Jiryung to death.
Kevin had no confidence in fighting someone like that.
‘At minimum, you’d need someone on the level of the Numbers to even stand a chance.’
But Kevin wasn’t one of the Numbers, nor was he an S-rank awakened.
‘What am I supposed to do with this guy…?’
At that moment, Zeon approached Kevin.
Kevin’s face instantly stiffened.
If Zeon attacked now, Kevin had no means of stopping him.
But Zeon’s attitude toward him was unexpectedly polite.
“This is my explanation.”
“Mm.”
“Is there anything else you require clarification on?”
“Hoo… I understand now that you weren’t the one who killed my subordinates. If you had been, the Pegasus Raid Force wouldn’t have gone out of their way to kill you.”
He had no choice but to acknowledge it.
Zeon was not the culprit behind the deaths of NSSC Team 2.
The situation itself made that obvious.
Kevin wasn’t foolish enough to stubbornly deny what was right in front of him.
“You’re innocent. You may go.”
“Thank you.”
After giving a slight bow, Zeon turned his gaze toward Eloi.
Eloi was leaning against the Mad Gumiho, gasping for breath.
At the moment, she didn’t even have the strength to move a finger.
She had exhausted all her power fighting Kelda.
Zeon spoke to her.
“Please take care of the aftermath.”
“Got it. Go already.”
Eloi waved him away.
Someone had to remain behind to clean up this disaster.
The NSSC headquarters itself had been attacked and destroyed.
The aftermath would be enormous.
Zeon himself had played a role in destroying the NSSC, so he couldn’t completely avoid responsibility either.
That was why Eloi needed to stay behind and handle everything.
To make sure no further problems arose.
Eloi knew the best possible method.
“Mandy, I’m counting on you.”
That method was simple:
Leave it to the expert.
Eloi’s personality instantly sank beneath the surface, and Mandy’s personality abruptly emerged.
“N-no!”
Mandy collapsed to the ground in despair.
Zeon didn’t even spare her a glance as he left the NSSC headquarters.
One NSSC awakened cautiously asked Kevin,
“Are we really just letting him walk away?”
“And if we don’t?”
“We should at least arrest him and hold him responsible for the headquarters collapsing…”
“You going to arrest him?”
“….”
“The sand mage created lava. That man is beyond our control now.”
“Isn’t that cheating? How can a human even have abilities like that…”
“If you’re upset about it, then go arrest him yourself.”
“T-that…”
“If you can’t, then stay curled up in a corner. Don’t act tough and end up like Lee Jiryung.”
“Fuck!”
In the end, the awakened who had spoken up could only spit on the ground in frustration after failing to gain anything.
Watching Zeon’s retreating figure grow farther away, Kevin muttered quietly,
“That man is already a giant among giants. He’s far beyond something we can handle.”