Chapter 249
Knock knock!
Hearing someone knocking on the door early in the morning, Zeon got up and walked outside.
When he opened the door, he saw familiar faces from yesterday.
It was Yoo Sehui and the Black Lion.
Yoo Sehui spoke with an apologetic expression.
“Sorry! Did I wake you too early?”
“Not at all. What brings you here?”
“There’s something urgent I need to tell you. May we come in?”
“Of course.”
When Zeon stepped aside, Yoo Sehui and the Black Lion entered the house.
After briefly looking around the interior, Yoo Sehui spoke in admiration.
“So this is the Fortress of the Slums.”
“The fortress?”
“Yeah! That’s what people in the slums call your house.”
“Why?”
“Because Dongdaemun tried so hard to destroy it and still couldn’t break through. They brought in barrier mages, magic-type Awakened, martial-type Awakened—everyone they had—and they still couldn’t leave even a scratch. Ever since Dongdaemun went back humiliated, people started calling this place a fortress.”
“That’s interesting.”
“Anyway, it’s an honor. To think I’d actually get to see the fortress in person. By any chance, could you tell me what kind of barrier you used?”
“It’s nothing special.”
When Zeon shrugged, Yoo Sehui wrinkled her nose.
“So you don’t plan on telling me.”
“Think whatever you want. But I doubt you came here this early just to talk about that…”
“Ah! Look at me getting distracted. You remember the man you subdued yesterday, right?”
“You mean the man named Garion?”
“Exactly! He escaped.”
“What?”
“Sorry! He escaped while the guards let their guard down. It’s my responsibility.”
Yoo Sehui bit her lip hard.
“You lost him that easily?”
“Well… apparently Garion suddenly regained his senses, so the guards relaxed.”
“What do you mean by regained his senses? Are you saying he wasn’t sane when he attacked me?”
“I think he was brainwashed. When you subdued him, the shock must have broken the mental seal placed on his brain.”
“Hmm.”
Zeon crossed his arms.
It was certainly a plausible explanation.
The madness in Garion’s eyes had definitely not been natural.
More importantly, before becoming one of Dongdaemun’s fanatics, he had been an ordinary merchant. The fact that he had suddenly become an Awakened with super regeneration abilities meant Dongdaemun had clearly done something to him.
“Is it possible to artificially create Awakened?”
“Not without talent. Garion probably always had latent potential but simply never Awakened. When Dongdaemun brainwashed him, that hidden potential must have blossomed.”
“That makes sense.”
Zeon nodded.
Before Awakening, nobody knew what kind of potential a person possessed.
No one even knew what caused Awakening.
Some people Awakened dramatically in moments of crisis, like Zeon had, while others Awakened casually during ordinary daily life.
That was why artificially inducing Awakening was considered nearly impossible.
With a grim expression, Yoo Sehui continued,
“It seems Garion killed his entire family after being brainwashed by Dongdaemun.”
“He believed that was the only way to stand beside God. Once the brainwashing broke, he realized what he had done and completely lost his mind. That’s why the guards lowered their guard.”
“He killed his whole family? With his own hands?”
“Yeah.”
“Haah… He’s insane.”
“Right. He says he doesn’t even understand why he did it. Back then, he apparently couldn’t think at all. By the time he came to his senses, he had already slaughtered his wife and children with his own hands… He says he doesn’t even know why he attacked you either.”
“Hoo… Then I suppose no one knows where he went now?”
“I’m sorry.”
Yoo Sehui couldn’t even look Zeon in the eye.
There was nothing she could say to excuse the situation.
At the same time, anger welled up inside her.
Anger directed toward Dongdaemun and Johan.
No matter how ruined the world had become, no matter how much humanity had fallen, what Johan and Dongdaemun were doing had gone far beyond all limits.
“Still, Garion probably won’t try to take revenge on you anymore. He realized that his true enemy isn’t you—it’s Johan.”
“It sounds like Dongdaemun may become troublesome again soon.”
“Hoo… probably.”
Yoo Sehui let out a deep sigh.
Several days passed after Yoo Sehui left.
Contrary to everyone’s worries, Dongdaemun caused no disturbances at all.
Zeon pushed thoughts of Garion aside.
Something even more important had come up.
“What the hell is that guy even doing that he can’t send a single message?”
Brielle was furious.
The reason was Levin.
It had already been over half a month since he entered Neo Seoul, yet they hadn’t heard anything from him.
“No matter how busy he is, he could at least contact us!”
“Then do you want to go into Neo Seoul?”
“Neo Seoul?”
At Zeon’s words, Brielle’s eyes widened.
Although she had lived here for a long time, she had never once entered Neo Seoul.
Even after gaining her freedom, she had never wanted to go there.
Being captured by humans and dragged here had left her traumatized.
Things had improved a lot after Zeon rescued her, but her trauma still hadn’t completely healed.
That was why she had never even tried to enter Neo Seoul.
“Neo Seoul is…”
“It’s nothing special.”
“Hm?”
“It’s no different from the slums. It just has bigger and flashier buildings.”
“But the humans…”
“With your current strength, you could chew up any human who tries to scare you.”
Brielle’s eyes wavered at Zeon’s words.
“Do you really think so?”
“You’ll know for sure once you go there. So, what’ll it be?”
“You’re going to Neo Seoul too?”
“I was thinking of taking this chance to head in.”
“Then I’ll go too.”
Brielle gathered her courage.
Zeon looked at her with approval.
“Wait a moment.”
Having finally made her difficult decision, Brielle quickly ran into her room.
After stuffing all kinds of items she had made into her subspace cone hat, she came back out.
Only Brielle knew exactly what was inside the cone hat.
Zeon also packed some light belongings into his subspace before heading toward Neo Seoul together with Brielle.
It was when the two of them were almost at the entrance to Neo Seoul.
“Waaah!”
“What is that?”
Suddenly, the people on the street burst into exclamations.
Zeon and Brielle turned toward where everyone was looking.
A massive transport vehicle was entering the area.
The enormous object loaded onto the transport vehicle was drawing everyone’s attention.
At first glance, it looked like nothing more than a gigantic boulder.
But protruding from it were arms and legs resembling those of a human.
Crude fingers and toes had also been attached to it.
Zeon recognized its identity immediately.
“A… golem?”
Golems were artificial lifeforms created through magic.
No one knew by what principle those gigantic rocks could move like humans. But they walked and moved just like people.
The difference was that they could not think like humans.
Golems acted only according to the commands programmed into them.
Brielle muttered,
“Looks like they cleared some dungeon.”
Stone golems were found only inside dungeons. But dungeons containing golems that large were rare.
There was nothing about a golem that went to waste.
The golem’s core, its gigantic stone body, and even the magic circles engraved across its frame were all valuable research materials.
The golem currently being transported was well over ten meters tall.
A golem that massive was extremely rare.
Which meant it possessed tremendous value.
That was why they were transporting it with a special transport vehicle despite the difficulty.
Clank! Clank! Thud! Thud!
At that moment, the sound of heavy footsteps rang out.
They belonged to the Awakened escorting the transport vehicle.
The reason the footsteps sounded unusually heavy was because the Awakened were far from ordinary humans.
They were mechanized Awakened whose limbs had been replaced with machinery.
In Neo Seoul, there was only one place that operated a raid force entirely composed of mechanized Awakened.
“They’re Awakened from the West District.”
“Looks like they succeeded in conquering a golem dungeon this time.”
“As expected of the West District. To capture a golem that huge… wouldn’t that thing be B-rank?”
“B-rank? That thing’s definitely A-rank. It’s my first time seeing an A-rank golem.”
People couldn’t stop admiring the golem loaded onto the transport vehicle.
Greed flickered in some of their eyes.
If it truly was an A-rank golem, its value would be immeasurable.
The body that looked like stone undoubtedly contained enormous quantities of rare minerals.
But even more valuable than that was the core powering such a gigantic golem.
A core capable of operating an A-rank golem was guaranteed to be worth a fortune.
One core alone could completely change a person’s life.
Yet not a single person dared to think about stealing it.
The moment anyone laid a hand on that massive golem, they would become an enemy of the West District.
And becoming an enemy of the West District meant there would no longer be any place for them in Neo Seoul.
Everyone understood that fact, so they only watched from a distance without daring to approach.
The mechanized Awakened vigilantly scanned their surroundings with sharp eyes.
If anyone approached without permission, they looked ready to attack immediately.
Among them, the most eye-catching figure was the man walking at the very front.
He possessed a body far larger and heavier than the other mechanized Awakened.
The man’s name was Park Woosik.
He was the commander of the Machine Corps, the elite force of the West District.
Those who recognized him whispered among themselves.
“Park Woosik personally conquered the dungeon?”
“Well, that explains how they captured something like that.”
As the commander of the Machine Corps, Park Woosik was one of the West District’s greatest powerhouses.
He had replaced his entire body with machinery, leaving only his brain and part of his face intact.
In a sense, it was more accurate to say that his brain and face had simply been implanted into a mechanical body.
Park Woosik’s appearance was truly terrifying.
There was a reason he commanded the Machine Corps.
Zeon silently watched Park Woosik and the Machine Corps as they moved farther away.
A short while later, they disappeared through the entrance to Neo Seoul.
They passed through without undergoing any inspection procedures.
Only then did Brielle speak.
“Wow… that’s seriously terrifying. How can someone even think of attaching machines to the human body?”
“Seriously.”
“Compared to that guy, Cha Jincheol was basically a child.”
“Come to think of it, I’d forgotten about Cha Jincheol.”
Since he had been kidnapped by the Grim Reaper and reduced to ashes, there had been no reason to keep thinking about him.
The district Cha Jincheol belonged to was the West District.
“That might end up causing trouble with the West District. After all, I’m the one who killed him.”
“You’re planning to go to the West District?”
“I’m not planning to go there intentionally. But who knows? You never know how things might turn out.”
“True.”
Brielle nodded.
Unless one was a god, nobody could know what the future held.
“Let’s head in too.”
“Okay!”
The two entered Neo Seoul.
An Awakened stopped them midway, but thanks to the identification cards issued by Market Chairman Jin Geumho, they passed through quickly.
The moment Brielle entered Neo Seoul, her eyes shook as if an earthquake had struck them.
Ultra-modern skyscrapers towering as though they would pierce the heavens.
Spotless streets without even a single piece of trash.
People dressed in stylish clothing.
A completely different world from the slums unfolded before her.
“So this is Neo Seoul?”
Faced with the overwhelming scenery she had never even imagined, her mouth fell open in shock.