Chapter 245
Lee Jiryung was an S-rank Awakened.
Not only that, but he was a superpowerful individual who used lightning-element magic with the greatest destructive force.
That was why Johan willingly joined hands with Lee Jiryung.
Lee Jiryung would expand his influence in Neo Seoul, while Johan would support him. They had even made an agreement that once Lee Jiryung secured territory in Neo Seoul, Johan could begin his missionary work there as well.
Johan never doubted that Lee Jiryung would succeed. That was why he willingly participated in stealing the top-grade magic stones.
As long as Lee Jiryung remained alive and well, he believed there would be no major problems in Dongdaemun.
But the Lee Jiryung he trusted so completely had lost his life to Zeon.
Just as his mind was reeling from the unexpected situation—
“That’s him.”
“Capture the one who has shown disrespect to Lord Johan.”
Holy Knights came rushing in from the rear gate.
They swung their swords with full force toward the middle-aged man confronting Johan.
The situation unfolded so suddenly that Johan could not stop them in time.
At that moment, the smile lingering on the middle-aged man’s lips deepened.
“Oh? Looks like there were still some people left standing.”
Boom!
In that instant, the bodies of the Holy Knights attacking the middle-aged man collapsed as if struck by an invisible giant hammer.
“Keugh!”
“Kuh-heok!”
The Holy Knights’ faces twisted in agony.
An overwhelming pressure and weight were crushing their bodies.
Creeeak!
No matter how much strength they exerted to endure it, it was useless. Their waists bent, and their heads were forced downward.
Dozens—no, hundreds—of tons of pressure were concentrated upon them.
Even deploying Holy Shield, the defensive skill of the Holy Knights, was useless.
No matter how hard an ant’s shell may be, it still bursts when crushed beneath a human finger. Likewise, they could not resist pressure and force beyond all limits.
Crack!
The sound of bones breaking rang out from the Holy Knights’ bodies.
Veins bulged across their entire bodies like writhing worms.
If just a little more pressure were applied, their bodies would burst apart like balloons.
Only then did Johan, who had remained silent until now, open his mouth.
“So it was you… Grain, the Gravity Mage.”
“Correct.”
The middle-aged man, Grain, answered with a smile.
Grain.
The second-in-command of the Execution Squad and an S-rank Awakened who wielded gravity with complete freedom.
His combat power was absolutely inferior to none of the rulers of each district.
Even if Lee Jiryung had still been alive, there was no guarantee he could have defeated this monster called Grain.
That did not mean Johan feared him. Johan also possessed abilities worthy of standing against him.
But if he fought Grain head-on, he would be making Jin Geumho his enemy.
The very man who was Neo Seoul itself.
After thinking it over carefully, Johan finally spoke with difficulty.
“Stop this.”
“Hm?”
“We’ll withdraw from Sinchon.”
“Well, that’s only natural.”
“We’ll also pull our hands out of the Goblin Market.”
“Sounds good. And?”
“We’ll send goods equivalent to the value of the top-grade magic stones as an apology.”
“I like that.”
Creeeak!
The gravity crushing the Holy Knights still had not disappeared.
Meaning Grain still had not gotten everything he wanted.
Johan gritted his teeth.
“For the time being, the Holy Knights’ sphere of activity will be limited to Dongdaemun.”
“Wow!”
Only then did Grain release the gravity pressing down on the Holy Knights and clap his hands. At last, he had received a satisfactory answer.
“Kuheok!”
“Huff!”
Freed from the gravity, the Holy Knights gasped for breath.
Grain casually swung around his staff embedded with a blue jewel and spoke.
“Then I’ll trust you to keep your promises and take my leave. Let’s meet again in a better setting next time.”
Leaving behind Johan, who ground his teeth in fury, Grain walked outside.
Holy Knights were collapsed all throughout the passage leading out.
Every one of them had fallen victim to his gravity.
Yet among those lying there, not a single person was dead. Grain had controlled the gravity with exquisite precision.
If he wished, he was capable of concentrating dozens of tons of gravity into a space no larger than a coin.
Ordinary Holy Knights could never withstand his attacks.
When he stepped outside the cathedral, an armored vehicle was waiting for him.
In front of it stood a young woman dressed in uniform.
Looking at her wristwatch, the woman spoke.
“You’re about two minutes later than expected.”
“Ah! My conversation with Lord Johan went on a bit long.”
“Did the discussion end well?”
“He was someone who understood things quickly, so it ended easily.”
“That’s fortunate.”
“I think so too. If he’d stayed stubborn until the end, I would’ve had to tear down this huge church. Do you know how troublesome that would’ve been?”
“Don’t lie. You could do it as easily as breathing.”
“Hey! Listen to this girl talking so casually because it’s someone else’s problem.”
As Grain raised his voice, the woman frowned.
“That’s enough. Your next mission is waiting.”
“Already? That’s ridiculous.”
“What exactly is ridiculous?”
“How can you assign another mission this quickly? Normally after one mission, we’re given plenty of rest.”
“It wasn’t even a mission difficult enough to deserve rest, was it?”
“Leona! Aren’t you talking a little too harshly just because it’s not your job?”
The woman Grain called Leona was his secretary.
She assisted him with everything—his schedule, missions, support, and daily life.
Without Leona, Grain’s normal daily life itself would become impossible.
“Enough complaining and get in the armored vehicle. We need to move quickly.”
“Hey!”
“What?”
“Even so, this isn’t right.”
“What isn’t right? Just get in the car.”
“You’re not a secretary—you’re more like a mother-in-law.”
“Then fire me if you’re so unhappy about it.”
“Tch! If you weren’t my friend’s daughter, I’d gladly do that.”
Grain grumbled as he climbed into the armored vehicle first.
Leona let out a small chuckle before driving the armored vehicle out of Dongdaemun.
The top-grade magic stones were returned to City Hall, and the priests who had entered Sinchon all returned to Dongdaemun.
Zeon, Levin, and Brielle also returned home.
“It’s been so long!”
“We’re home!”
Levin and Brielle cheered as they ran around the house.
Even though they had returned after quite a while, the interior of the house was completely untouched.
That was thanks to the ‘Watching Eye,’ which had perfectly blocked outside intrusions.
Zeon smiled at the unchanged appearance of the house.
“You’ve all worked hard, so let’s rest well for a while.”
“Yes, hyung!”
“Okay!”
Levin and Brielle answered excitedly.
They each rushed into their own rooms.
They wanted to shower and rest as quickly as possible.
Zeon sat down on the sofa in the living room and relaxed.
Beyond the neon signs outside the window, the enormous City Hall building could be seen.
Jin Geumho was probably at the top of that building.
‘The reason Dongdaemun has gone quiet must be your doing.’
Otherwise, those fanatics would never have withdrawn from Sinchon so obediently.
That was fortunate.
If Jin Geumho had not intervened at the right moment, Zeon would have ended up fighting Dongdaemun to the bitter end.
It wasn’t that he feared Dongdaemun, but that kind of war of attrition was not what Zeon wanted.
Fortunately, the proper level of intervention had occurred at exactly the moment Zeon wanted it to.
Dongdaemun probably had no desire to further provoke Jin Geumho either, so they would restrain themselves for the time being.
“Hoo…”
Zeon let out a sigh.
A lot had happened in a short amount of time.
He had been betrayed during the dungeon raid, stabilized the Scavenger group and the Steel Fortress, then returned to Neo Seoul and fought against the forces allied with Lee Jiryung and Johan.
For an ordinary Awakened, it would have been a series of dangers deadly enough to kill them several times over.
The fact that he had returned safely at all was practically a miracle.
No matter how strong Zeon was, mental exhaustion was inevitable.
Still, he had gained quite a lot.
“Levin, Brielle, and Eloi have all grown stronger, and I awakened a new skill as well.”
Until now, he had thought of his sand-controlling authority and the flame skills granted by the Superheated Gauntlet as completely separate abilities.
The Superheated Gauntlet was certainly an incredible item that allowed him to manipulate ultra-high-temperature flames, but since it was not his innate power, he had only regarded it as a supplementary tool.
He occasionally mixed sand and flames together in combat, but he had believed true fusion was something far off in the future. However, through his battle with Lee Jiryung, he discovered a way to merge two entirely different categories of skills.
“What if I unleashed Sand Gehenna in the desert?”
Even using only the sand stored in his subspace, he had transformed the surrounding area into a volcanic wasteland.
If he unleashed Sand Gehenna in an infinite desert, an enormous area would melt into lava.
It would undoubtedly be terrifyingly effective not only against humans, but against magical beasts as well.
“Nice.”
Zeon smiled.
Having many usable skills was a good thing.
It meant he had more ways to respond depending on the situation, just like this time.
“I’ll think about it later. For now, I should get some rest.”
“All reports indicate that everything has been resolved.”
“Is that so? Good work, everyone.”
At the report from his secretary Seo Taeran, Jin Geumho nodded while looking out the window.
The place Jin Geumho was gazing at was the slum district beyond the barrier wall.
After silently staring in the same direction for a moment, Seo Taeran cautiously spoke.
“However…”
“Yes?”
“Is it really alright to end things like this? Dongdaemun wasn’t the only party involved in the theft of the top-grade magic stones. While there’s no concrete evidence, signs suggest the Southern District was also involved.”
“But there’s no proof.”
“If we truly wanted to, we could secure evidence easily enough.”
“That’s true. But…”
“You don’t wish to do that. May I ask why?”
“If you press too hard, things eventually explode. The larger a city is—especially one like Neo Seoul—the more delicate the balance must be. You have to loosen your grip sometimes, then tighten it again repeatedly.”
Back when countless nations and cities still existed, there had been no need to worry about such things.
Even if one country or city collapsed, humanity itself would not go extinct.
But Neo Seoul was different.
It was the only city in this world that had achieved ultra-advanced civilization.
The moment this place collapsed, the surviving humans would be thrown back into the medieval era. It wouldn’t simply be civilization regressing—humanity itself could be completely wiped out from this world.
Jin Geumho did not want such a future to come.
He carried the responsibility of protecting and allowing humanity to prosper.
For now, circumstances forced him to be satisfied with merely being the mayor of Neo Seoul, but his true goal was to one day leave this tiny piece of land behind and rebuild the world of humanity.
Even now, he was devoting himself to achieving that goal.
Until he succeeded, he would neither rest nor stop.
“Now that this troublesome matter has mostly been settled, it’s time for us to return to our real work.”
“And what about Zeon? Are you just going to leave him alone?”
“Why? Is Zeon becoming a problem?”
“If you think about it, none of this would have happened if not for Zeon. He’ll continue causing problems in the future.”
“That may be true.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to eliminate him now…”
“And are you confident you can?”
“If we mobilize the Numbers…”
“He killed Lee Jiryung after he became an S-rank. That means his own abilities are already beyond S-rank. If we try to kill him, there will be casualties even among the Numbers. I do not want that.”
“But…”
“Taeran.”
Suddenly, Jin Geumho’s voice dropped.
At that instant, Seo Taeran tensed.
“I need him. Without him, we cannot obtain Moby Dick’s Heart, and without Moby Dick’s Heart, my plans will suffer serious setbacks. Surely you do not want that to happen.”
“N-No, sir. I apologize. I overstepped my bounds.”
Seo Taeran trembled as though her heart had dropped into an abyss.
Unable to even look at Jin Geumho’s face, she hurriedly lowered her head.
“That is the limit of how far I’m willing to indulge you.”
“I… will remember that.”
Seo Taeran’s voice shook noticeably as she bowed her head.
By then, her back was already drenched in cold sweat.