Chapter 244
GRAAAAAANG!
An enormous mass of sand spun at high speed, producing a roar like a gigantic motor.
To the people trapped within the rapidly rotating sand, the sound was amplified several times over, filling them with overwhelming terror.
“What…?”
Victor’s facial muscles twitched under the tremendous pressure and deafening noise.
If it had only been pressure, he could have endured it.
But countless grains of sand were scraping away at his skin.
The weaker Holy Knights screamed.
“Ghk!”
“Aaaagh! O God!”
Several Holy Knights deployed Holy Shields, but it was useless.
The rapidly spinning sand particles shredded even the Holy Shields apart.
It was a sand hell.
Everywhere they looked was sand, and the crushing pressure and slicing winds made escape impossible.
Some Holy Knights wildly swung their swords, trying to cut through the sand.
But the split sand instantly restored itself as though nothing had happened, immediately grinding away at the Holy Knights’ skin and flesh.
“GAAAAH!”
“S-save me!”
Hell unfolded inside the Sand Mixer.
Screams, shrieks, and the blood spilling from the Holy Knights mixed into the sand before vanishing instantly.
Bloody tears flowed from Victor’s eyes.
Microscopic sand particles had burrowed into his mucous membranes.
“This… can’t be possible!”
He deployed Holy Shield with all his strength.
For a brief moment, holy light warmly enveloped him.
Then unbearable pain struck again.
The sand particles instantly eroded the Holy Shield away.
He deployed Holy Shield over and over, but it was meaningless.
The monstrous sandstorm that had swallowed him and the Holy Knights stripped everything away like a tyrant.
“N-no! If we become enemies with this man… Dongdaemun will be destroyed.”
Unlike Neo Seoul, there was no limit here to the amount of sand Zeon could summon.
There was no need for him to conserve it.
He gathered every grain of sand within the range of his control and unleashed Sand Mixer at full power.
The Sand Mixer deployed with Zeon’s full strength was far beyond what Victor could endure.
“W-wait! Let’s talk—”
Victor desperately tried to speak to Zeon, but his voice never reached him.
GAAAAAAANG!
The high-speed sand particles swallowed even sound itself.
Pasaak!
A sword forged from special materials crumbled into dust.
Fingers tempered harder than steel burst apart into sprays of blood.
There wasn’t even pain.
His body was being ground apart far faster than his nerves could transmit suffering.
His elbows, shoulders, and torso vanished from existence as though erased by an invisible eraser.
As his consciousness faded into darkness, Victor muttered inwardly,
‘That man isn’t human. A demon… yes! A demon that opposes God…’
Those were Victor’s final thoughts.
Darkness consumed him immediately after.
That was Victor’s end.
PUHWAAAHK!
Victor transformed into blood-colored sand and disappeared completely from this world.
Only then did Zeon release Sand Mixer, and the sandstorm that had blanketed the Goblin Market scattered in every direction.
It wasn’t only the sand that disappeared.
The Holy Knights trapped within it had vanished as well, without leaving behind even a trace.
The Goblin Market merchants who had come outside were rendered speechless by the unbelievable sight.
They had heard many stories about Zeon, but this was the first time they had actually witnessed him using sand.
The power of Sand Mixer far exceeded their imagination, filling them with overwhelming fear.
“W-what did I just see?”
“So that’s the true power of the sand mage?”
The merchants realized they never wanted to become Zeon’s enemies.
Unlike Victor and the Holy Knights, they didn’t want to disappear from the world without leaving behind even a trace, reduced to blood sand.
Even Yoo Sehui couldn’t hide the fear on her face.
She had long known Zeon was a sand mage and understood that he was an unprecedentedly powerful awakened.
But witnessing him grind the Holy Knights out of existence so completely left her too shocked to speak.
Meanwhile, Brielle and Levin called out to Zeon with bright smiles.
“Zeon!”
“Hyung!”
They didn’t care whether anyone else felt fear.
The two rushed into Zeon’s arms, enjoying their reunion.
Zeon gently patted them as he asked,
“Are you both alright?”
“Yeah! Thanks to you…”
“Are you okay, Hyung?”
“I’m fine.”
After confirming each other’s safety, they finally stepped apart.
Only then, after gathering herself, Yoo Sehui approached Zeon.
“That was incredible. You wiped out those troublesome Holy Knights in an instant.”
“This way, it’ll serve as a warning to them too.”
“To Johan?”
“Yes.”
“I figured as much.”
Yoo Sehui nodded slowly.
This time, Zeon’s methods had definitely been excessive.
Until now, Zeon had always maintained a certain line.
He was merciless toward those who crossed it, but otherwise he tended to be lenient.
He rarely used his sand-controlling abilities openly in front of people.
And he was especially careful about using skills with such overwhelming lethality.
The fact that he had openly unleashed such a devastating killing technique before everyone was practically a direct warning to Johan and Dongdaemun.
At that moment, Brielle pulled the top-grade magic stone out from the subspace inside her pointed hat.
“This…”
“So you found it.”
“Yeah! We found it underground in the sanctuary.”
Just then—
“So this confirms that you attacked the NSSC and stole the top-grade magic stone.”
An old man’s voice suddenly came from behind them.
When they turned their heads, they saw an old man leaning on a cane approaching them alongside a pair of twin sisters.
Zeon recognized him immediately.
“Elder Go!”
“You really turned Neo Seoul upside down.”
“Everything’s in chaos because of you.”
“It’s complete chaos because of Zeon.”
The ones speaking almost simultaneously were Elder Go and the twin sisters.
Three members of the Numbers had appeared.
At their arrival, Yoo Sehui and several Goblin Market merchants instinctively tensed.
The nervous ones belonged to the Eye of Argos, so they knew the Numbers were the hidden blade of the market.
Elder Go approached the top-grade magic stone together with the twins.
“I didn’t do anything to earn it, but I’ll still be taking this. It belonged to Neo Seoul in the first place.”
“For free?”
“As if.”
A sly grin spread across Elder Go’s face, deep wrinkles forming around his eyes.
***
Johan stood before the cross inside the sanctuary with both hands clasped together.
His eyes, fixed upon the cross, were bloodshot red.
The atmosphere surrounding him was so severe that no one even dared step inside the sanctuary.
And in truth, Johan was furious.
The top-grade magic stone stored beneath the sanctuary had been stolen.
It was no different from trampling both his pride and his god beneath their feet.
Suddenly, he spoke.
“They still haven’t been caught?”
“The vice-captain has already led the troops out. They’ll be captured soon.”
The one answering was Dayson, captain of the Holy Knights.
But even after hearing Dayson’s response, Johan’s hardened expression showed no sign of easing.
Johan slowly walked toward Dayson.
Tension appeared on Dayson’s face.
THUD!
Suddenly, Dayson’s head snapped sideways.
Without warning, Johan had punched him.
His face instantly swelled, blood pouring from his lips, yet Dayson clenched his mouth shut and didn’t even scream.
THUD!
Another punch exploded against Dayson’s face.
A deep wound appeared on Dayson’s body, which had become as hard as steel through divine blessings.
“Ghk!”
A muffled groan escaped through his lips despite his efforts to suppress it.
On the surface, it looked like an ordinary punch.
But the reality was different.
Johan’s blows contained the power of the being he believed to be a god.
That power pierced through the Holy Knights’ shields and bodies, destroying them from the inside.
The sensation of cells and muscles rupturing alive was painful enough to torment even Dayson, captain of the Holy Knights.
Johan was the alpha and omega of Dongdaemun.
His abilities could amplify the Holy Knights’ power—or strip it away entirely.
That was why the Holy Knights both feared and obeyed him.
Eventually, unable to withstand the pain any longer, Dayson fell to his knees.
“And what if the vice-captain fails to bring them back?”
“T-that…”
“What then? Jin Geum-ho will definitely make a move. Can you handle that?”
“I apologize.”
“If you understand, then move already.”
“Yes, sir!”
Dayson immediately ran out of the sanctuary.
Watching Dayson disappear through the doorway, Johan muttered,
“Useless…”
He had tolerated Dayson because of his overwhelming loyalty, but now Johan was growing mentally exhausted by his incompetence.
Thinking that he would soon need to replace the captain of the Holy Knights, Johan looked back toward the cross.
The crimson-glowing cross seemed almost as if it were delivering a revelation to him.
He began praying to his god.
“O God, please rain your wrath upon them. Burn their souls with heavenly fire, and deliver their bodies unto me so I may crush them beneath my feet.”
At that moment—
“Well now, for someone who calls himself a priest, isn’t that a rather violent prayer?”
A voice suddenly echoed from the entrance of the sanctuary.
Johan’s eyebrows twitched.
It was a voice he had never heard before.
He stopped praying and turned around.
The owner of the voice came into view.
The man wore a tailored suit that revealed a lean yet muscular physique and leaned on a cane adorned with a blue gemstone.
His neatly combed blond hair, blue eyes, and carefully groomed beard gave him the appearance of a refined middle-aged gentleman.
The sudden appearance of a complete stranger caused Johan’s eyes to sharpen.
“Who are you? How did you get past the Holy Knights outside?”
Countless Holy Knights were guarding the sanctuary.
Especially after the theft of the top-grade magic stone, security had become several times stricter than usual.
Yet this middle-aged man had appeared inside without warning.
Naturally, Johan couldn’t help but be wary.
The suited man grinned.
“The friends outside? They just let me in.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Just believe it. It’ll be better for your health.”
The middle-aged man chuckled.
Meanwhile, Johan’s expression stiffened further.
This was the sanctuary—the very heart of Dongdaemun.
The Holy Knights would never allow a complete outsider inside so casually.
The fact that the man had entered without causing any commotion meant only one thing:
He was overwhelmingly strong.
Strong enough to suppress every Holy Knight guarding the outside before Johan even noticed.
“…Did City Hall send you?”
“Did your god enlighten you? You figured it out quickly.”
“The Numbers?”
“Heh.”
Instead of answering directly, the man gave a meaningful smile.
Johan’s face hardened even more.
The Numbers.
The execution squad directly under Mayor Jin Geum-ho.
Johan knew the faces of several members.
But this middle-aged man was unfamiliar to him.
Which meant only one thing.
The people whose faces Johan didn’t know were the higher-ranking Numbers.
“Why would the Numbers come here?”
“You’re asking because you truly don’t know?”
“Don’t tell me…”
“You made far too much of a mess. Collaborating with Lee Jiryung to steal the top-grade magic stone.”
The middle-aged man’s voice lowered further.
At the same time, Johan’s sense of danger intensified.
The Numbers never moved without certainty.
Which meant they already possessed evidence that Johan and Lee Jiryung had worked together.
There was no point denying it.
What he needed now was a sacrifice to take the blame.
“Everything was orchestrated by Lee Jiryung. I merely cooperated because he threatened me.”
“Oh? Shifting all responsibility onto the dead? A rather classic method.”
“The dead? Don’t tell me the Numbers killed Lee Jiryung?”
“We never even had the chance to intervene. Lee Jiryung died at the hands of the sand mage.”
“The sand mage? Then Zeon killed Lee Jiryung…?”
A crack finally appeared in Johan’s carefully maintained composure.