Chapter 243
Step! Step!
The sound of people’s footsteps echoed overhead.
Only after the footsteps faded into the distance did Levin and Brielle let out sighs of relief.
“They’re gone.”
“Wow! They actually deployed a barrier over the entire district. Aren’t they completely insane?”
Brielle shook her head with a disgusted expression.
Other districts also used barriers.
But most barriers were only erected around important facilities or buildings that absolutely had to be protected—not spread across an entire district like this.
Not only did such a thing require an enormous amount of money and manpower, but above all else, the residents would normally revolt against it.
Once a barrier activated, all movement in and out was completely blocked.
Naturally, the residents themselves could no longer travel to other districts.
A handful of people complaining was one thing, but if the entire population resisted, even the rulers of the districts couldn’t ignore it.
That was why no other district did something this crazy.
Levin looked around as he spoke.
“It’s possible because they’re a group of fanatics. The Dongdaemun residents follow Johan blindly. If he told them to die right here, they’d probably happily kill themselves.”
“They’re seriously insane.”
“That’s why they’re fanatics.”
Splash! Splash!
Filthy water sloshed beneath their feet.
The place they were hiding was the underground sewer system of Dongdaemun.
Just as they were about to escape Dongdaemun, the barrier had activated.
They had missed getting out by the narrowest margin.
Afterward, every resident in Dongdaemun began searching for them.
The residents had voluntarily become the eyes and ears of the Holy Knights.
Because of that, they couldn’t hide in ordinary buildings or alleys.
No matter how absurd Levin’s abilities were, he couldn’t avoid the eyes of an entire population.
That was why they had come here—the sewers.
The sewer, where every kind of filth flowed together, was somewhere even fanatics hesitated to enter.
That was why the Holy Knights hadn’t searched this place yet.
But it was obvious they would eventually come down here if they still failed to find the two of them.
Before that happened, they needed to escape Dongdaemun through the sewer tunnels.
The problem was that the sewers were as complicated as a labyrinth.
They were more confusing than most maze-type dungeons, and if one made a wrong turn, it was entirely possible to remain trapped here forever.
There might not be a barrier down here, but an even greater obstacle awaited them.
In this place, one’s sense of direction became distorted, making it difficult to determine the proper route.
Levin muttered with a troubled expression,
“Was Sinchon this way? No… maybe that way?”
“Idiot. It’s to the right.”
“How would you know?”
“Did you forget where I was imprisoned?”
“Ah!”
Only then did Levin let out a groan of realization.
After being captured by humans, Brielle had spent years manufacturing drugs in the sewers.
Darkness and foul smells like this were familiar to her.
Naturally, she was far better at navigating here than Levin.
“Let’s go.”
Brielle took the lead.
Following behind her, Levin thought,
‘She really is one tough little brat.’
A smile naturally formed on his lips.
Even in the worst possible situation, he could still smile because Brielle was with him.
Arrogant, prideful, cold-hearted—she possessed every terrible personality trait imaginable.
And yet somehow, just having her around made him feel reassured.
As she walked ahead, Brielle murmured,
“Light.”
A fist-sized sphere of light instantly formed.
It was the most basic of spells: Light.
Thanks to it, they could clearly see ahead even inside the pitch-black sewer.
The scene illuminated by the light was utterly horrifying.
Every kind of unidentified filth had mixed together into a thick swamp-like sludge.
“Ugh! I think I would’ve been better off not seeing this.”
“What are you whining about? The place I was kept in was—”
“Wait!”
Suddenly, Levin raised a hand to stop Brielle from speaking.
Brielle’s puzzled expression also stiffened.
Splash! Splash!
They could hear the sound of water from far away.
The two immediately realized what it was.
“Pursuers.”
“The Holy Knights are following us.”
The Holy Knights had indeed tracked them all the way into the sewers.
Just as they expected, the owners of the footsteps were the Holy Knights.
At the front of the group stood Victor.
‘Hiding in the sewers… They’re craftier than I expected.’
If not for Infinite Pursuit, they would never have known Levin and Brielle had entered the sewers.
That was how unexpected the pair’s movements had been.
The sewers were a place no one willingly entered.
Especially not the Holy Knights, who considered themselves noble and pure.
To servants of God like them, this place overflowing with filth was practically hell itself.
Even so, they had boldly entered the sewers.
Because if they failed to recover the top-grade magic stone from Levin and Brielle, the very foundation of Dongdaemun would be shaken.
Victor shouted,
“The bastards aren’t far away!”
Even amidst the overwhelming stench of the sewers, Infinite Pursuit continued to emit a clear scent.
As long as Infinite Pursuit remained active, it was impossible for Levin and Brielle to escape their grasp.
Victor and the Holy Knights accelerated their pursuit.
Their movements caused the filthy sludge beneath them to churn violently.
The ripples in the sewage reached Brielle.
“How are they accurately tracking our movements through a sewer maze like this?”
“What do you mean?”
“The Holy Knights definitely pulled some kind of trick.”
“Did they use some sort of tracking skill?”
“Wait a second… Search!”
In an instant, Brielle cast a simple spell to inspect herself and Levin.
The moment she saw the results, her expression twisted.
“I knew it!”
“Why?”
“There’s a tracking skill attached to us.”
“Seriously?”
“It’s a skill that releases a scent only the caster can detect. That’s why they’re following us like hunting dogs.”
“Then what do we do?”
“Wait.”
Brielle rummaged through the subspace inside her pointed hat. A moment later, she pulled out a small potion bottle.
“Spray this on yourself. It’ll mask the scent for a little while.”
“Got it.”
Levin sprayed the potion all over his body.
“Done.”
“Then let’s move.”
The two once again sprinted through the sewers.
Inside the sewer were countless iron grates.
Whenever a grate blocked their path, Levin turned ghostly and passed straight through it.
The Holy Knights, on the other hand, smashed through the grates as they charged forward.
Victor’s expression grew urgent.
“Damn it! Their scent is fading. They must’ve realized Infinite Pursuit was attached to them. At this rate, we’ll lose them.”
His mind spun rapidly.
‘Their destination is Shinchon anyway. Rather than blindly chasing them like this, it may be better to intercept them from above.’
Having made his decision, he shouted to the Holy Knights,
“Everyone, head outside!”
“Yes, sir!”
They immediately opened a manhole cover and leapt out.
The place the Holy Knights emerged into was Shinchon.
In the frenzy of pursuing through the sewers, they had unknowingly crossed into Shinchon.
Victor issued an order.
“Mobilize every Holy Knight currently stationed in Shinchon. Block off Zeon’s house and the Goblin Market.”
There were only two truly safe places in Shinchon.
The Goblin Market, which was nearly beyond the law, and Zeon’s house.
The Goblin Market involved the interests of countless factions, so even Dongdaemun still hadn’t fully brought it under control.
The other safe place was Zeon’s house.
The Holy Knights of Dongdaemun had spent a long time trying to open the doors to Zeon’s home.
But the barrier created by the Watching Eye couldn’t be destroyed no matter what methods they tried.
The walls and windows were equally indestructible.
Zeon’s house itself was a perfect fortress.
In the end, the Holy Knights gave up trying to enter and instead settled for guarding it.
Victor headed toward the Goblin Market.
He was following his instincts.
And his gamble paid off.
By the time they reached the Goblin Market, Levin and Brielle were just climbing out of a manhole in ghost form.
“Got you.”
Victor immediately unleashed a sword strike toward them.
Shuuuu!
Fortunately, because they were ghostified, they took no damage.
But Levin and Brielle still felt a chill run down their spines.
They had thought they completely shook off the pursuit, only to be caught again right before reaching their destination.
Levin let out a sigh.
“Haa… damn it. We got caught by one hell of a hunting dog. Never thought they’d chase us this obsessively.”
“Where is the top-grade magic stone?”
“No idea what you’re talking about.”
“There’s no point pretending. You probably hid it in some kind of subspace item.”
Before they realized it, the Holy Knights had completely surrounded Levin and Brielle.
They encircled the pair so tightly that not even a drop of water could slip through, weapons drawn.
Maces, swords, and war hammers emitted holy light.
The Holy Weapon skill unique to Holy Knights had been activated.
No matter how intangible Levin became through ghostification, he couldn’t nullify attacks empowered with divine blessings like those.
Levin sighed and muttered,
“Looks like we’ll have to risk our lives.”
“Let’s hold out as long as we can. The Goblin Market probably already knows we’ve arrived by now. They’ll definitely make a move.”
“They better.”
At that moment—
“Die!”
“Unbelievers! Receive the hammer of God!”
The Holy Knights attacked all at once.
In response, Levin unleashed Purple Lightning, while Brielle released every spell she could use.
FLASH! KWA-RRR!
Lightning and holy light exploded together, devastating the entire area.
The sudden battle caused merchants from the Goblin Market to rush outside.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s those Holy Knight bastards.”
The merchants’ expressions darkened the moment they saw the Holy Knights.
Not a single merchant in the Goblin Market held positive feelings toward Dongdaemun’s Holy Knights.
Yoo Sehui, who emerged outside a moment later, bit her lip.
She recognized who was fighting the Holy Knights.
‘Levin… Brielle!’
She wanted to mobilize the Goblin Market’s forces and rescue them immediately.
But the moment they intervened in this fight, an all-out war with Dongdaemun would become unavoidable.
Once they provoked those religious fanatics, the conflict would never end.
If it were only herself, Yoo Sehui wouldn’t have hesitated.
But as someone responsible for leading the Goblin Market, she couldn’t act recklessly.
Even while Yoo Sehui struggled internally, the battle between Levin, Brielle, and the Holy Knights continued to intensify.
Victor, who had been attacking Levin relentlessly, suddenly changed directions.
His new target was Brielle, who was fighting against the other Holy Knights.
In that instant, he judged her to be the weak point.
Unlike Levin, Brielle wasn’t particularly skilled in combat.
Alchemy was her primary awakened ability, and magic was merely a supplementary byproduct she could use.
Naturally, the power of her offensive magic wasn’t especially great.
Rather than wasting energy trying to overcome Levin, it was far more effective to defeat the weaker Brielle and throw Levin into confusion.
Shuuuu!
Victor’s sword flew straight toward Brielle’s neck.
Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Brielle couldn’t react at all.
“No! Brielle!”
Levin cried out and tried to save her, but he couldn’t move faster than Victor’s blade.
In an instant, the sword reached Brielle’s throat.
‘So this is how I die.’
Just as Brielle tightly shut her eyes—
THUD!
With a heavy impact, Victor’s sword was blocked by something.
Carefully opening her eyes, Brielle saw a yellow sand wall before her.
Victor’s sword, which had been aiming for her neck, was embedded in the sand wall and unable to move.
A smile instantly spread across Brielle’s face.
“Zeon!”
In this world, there was only one person capable of controlling sand like this.
Looking upward, she saw Zeon standing atop a pillar of sand suspended in the air.
Zeon, who had left Neo Seoul, had returned to Shinchon.
Victor and the Holy Knights stared at Zeon in shock.
“Zeon?”
“It’s the sand mage!”
Zeon’s gaze as he looked down upon Victor and the Holy Knights was ice-cold.
At that moment, a sandstorm began to blow.
The sand piled along the streets and the grains drifting through the wind responded to Zeon’s will, wrapping around Victor and the Holy Knights.
Zeon gave a command.
“Sand Mixer.”
GAAAAANG!