Chapter 316
“Ugh!”
Akashi trembled violently, his face twisted in terror.
That was because a hell he had never once imagined was unfolding right before his eyes.
The Scavengers being reduced to charred corpses by fire wasn’t frightening at all.
It was a sight he had seen so many times he was sick of it.
After robbing survivors, the last thing they always did was set everything ablaze like this.
The real problem was his comrades.
The hearty dwarf Etli lay there with all four limbs mangled, coughing up mouthfuls of blood, while Buckshire had repeated the cycle of regenerating and burning until he no longer even had the strength to scream, lying there limply.
They couldn’t die.
But they weren’t alive either.
They were simply being burned alive.
Unless Zeon permitted their deaths, they would suffer this agony forever.
But the one who inspired even greater fear was Hashim’s condition.
To Akashi, Hashim had always been the ultimate boss.
A man reliable enough to place complete trust in.
And now Hashim, who had only ever shown him strength, was shriveled like a mummy, desperately begging Zeon for water.
“W-water…….”
“You want to drink?”
“Y-Yeah! I want to drink.”
Hashim nodded violently.
His skin had split apart like tree bark, completely devoid of moisture.
That was because the Ghost Horsehair Worm that had invaded his body had absorbed every last drop of water inside him.
Hashim was suffering from unbearable thirst.
If he could drink even a single mouthful of water, he felt like he would willingly sell his soul.
His mind had become so numb that he couldn’t even feel anger toward Zeon for inflicting this torment on him.
His gaze was fixed entirely on the kettle Zeon was holding.
As Zeon moved the kettle around, Hashim’s eyes followed it desperately.
If he could drink even one sip from that kettle, he would gladly sell his soul.
“W-water! Please, water…….”
“If you want to drink, tell me about the Odok Tribe.”
Thunk!
Zeon placed the kettle right in front of Hashim’s nose.
Hashim stuck out his tongue, but he couldn’t move any farther. The Sand Soldiers were still pinning him down from behind.
In the end, Hashim spilled everything he knew.
How he first met a descendant of the Odok Tribe, how he connected him to Eli, even the characteristics of the tribe’s descendant.
He hid nothing.
“Urgh! I told you everything I know. Now the water…….”
Hashim’s voice cracked horribly.
Even the moisture inside his mouth had dried up.
Instead of answering, Zeon dissolved the Sand Soldiers back into sand and stored them in subspace.
The moment the weight crushing his body disappeared, Hashim frantically grabbed the kettle and gulped the water down.
Even after drinking every drop inside it, it wasn’t nearly enough to satisfy his thirst.
“Water! I need more water!”
In the end, Hashim went mad searching for water.
But there was no more water in the sealed space.
“Water! W-water…….”
Hashim clawed at the walls like a lunatic searching for water, and the sight was horrifying.
Even after drinking an entire kettle, his thirst hadn’t eased in the slightest, driving him completely insane.
Unable to endure it any longer, Hashim finally sank his teeth into the neck of a nearby corpse and began sucking its blood.
Like a vampire.
It was terrifying how a perfectly normal human could fall so low in an instant.
Unable to bear the horror, Akashi squeezed his eyes shut.
‘Fuck! Fuck! I never should’ve gotten involved with that monster in the first place.’
The Helbrin Mercenary Group was finished now.
He was the only one left relatively unharmed, but he lacked the ability to rebuild or lead the mercenary corps himself.
“Haaah!”
The strength left Akashi’s legs, and he collapsed to the floor.
Zeon approached him.
Then he asked abruptly,
“It was you, right?”
“Pardon?”
“You’re the one who detects demonic beasts, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
Akashi answered with a face full of resignation.
The other man already knew everything.
He neither had the courage nor the energy to lie.
“You seem valuable enough to keep alive.”
The ability to detect demonic beasts in advance was both incredibly rare and immensely useful.
Not as extraordinary as a Navigator or Zeon himself, but still enough to sense danger ahead of time and avoid it.
If a dungeon raid team or a Pathfinder group had even one person capable of detecting demonic beasts, their survival rate would increase dramatically.
Zeon himself didn’t particularly need such an ability, but Jang Yongbeom’s newly formed guild, the Goblin Market, or even City Hall would surely appreciate it.
Akashi’s eyes widened.
“R-Really? You’re truly going to spare me?”
“If you cooperate properly.”
“I-I will. I’ll do anything.”
“I hope that resolve never changes.”
“It absolutely won’t.”
“It better not. There’s still one more left.”
Clink!
Zeon shook the bottle containing the Ghost Horsehair Worm right in front of Akashi’s face.
Akashi’s face turned pale with terror.
He had seen with his own eyes what kind of state Hashim had become after being infected by the Ghost Horsehair Worm.
Even now, Hashim had his face buried in a corpse, crazily sucking blood.
Death was one thing.
But he never wanted to live in such a horrifying state.
“Good. You’re coming with me.”
“Yes, sir!”
Akashi answered in a perfectly disciplined posture.
Zeon took Akashi toward the elevator.
Broken crystal fragments were scattered all over inside.
One crystal in particular stood out.
A faded yellow crystal.
When Zeon picked it up, Akashi hurriedly explained,
“That’s the ‘Sun-Eating Dog.’ We got it from a dungeon, but it’s a one-time-use item, so it probably won’t work anymore.”
“That’s fine. I know a kid who’s good at fixing things like this.”
If he brought it to Briel, she would probably disassemble it down to the molecular level to figure out how it worked.
If he was lucky, she might even repair it.
And even if she couldn’t, it would still greatly help Briel’s development.
That alone was enough.
Before they left, Akashi cautiously asked,
“But… are you really leaving Captain Hashim like that?”
“Why? Does it seem too cruel?”
“N-No, I’m sorry.”
“He killed countless people and plunged them into misery. He deserves at least that much punishment.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Oh right. There’s a spatial movement item too, isn’t there?”
“Yes! It’s the belt the captain wears. It’s called Mushura’s Relic. It lets the user teleport randomly within a 1.5-kilometer radius.”
“I’ll be taking this too. Got a problem with that?”
“O-Of course not!”
Akashi shook his head frantically.
A complaint? Being spared was already more mercy than he deserved. What did a belt matter compared to that?
Once outside, Zeon sealed off the elevator shaft.
He melted the broken elevator shut completely, blocking the entrance.
Now Hashim would slowly die in there, tormented by endless thirst.
Just imagining such a horrific end made Akashi shudder violently.
Even after coming outside, Akashi didn’t dare think about running away.
He knew that behind Zeon’s smiling face lurked a cruelty beyond imagination.
He had no confidence he could escape Zeon’s grasp, and he already knew exactly what would happen if he got caught.
There was no reason to run.
Like an ox being dragged to the slaughterhouse, he lowered his head and followed behind Zeon.
‘Haah… fucking life…….’
Eli stood there with a stiff expression, staring at the elf before her.
It was Romina, one of her trusted subordinates.
Romina stood there with her head lowered deeply, like someone awaiting execution.
“So you’re saying contact with the Scavengers has been lost?”
“Yes. It was completely cut off thirty minutes ago.”
“And the slaves?”
“We couldn’t fill the quota of one hundred.”
“That’s nowhere near enough.”
“I’m sorry.”
Romina answered weakly.
Eli’s gaze toward her was icy.
Her already cold eyes even carried killing intent now.
Feeling as though her body might be torn apart at any moment, Romina trembled like a leaf.
Eli rose from her chair and spoke.
“It seems things have gone wrong.”
“Pardon? But…….”
“I have a bad feeling about this. Let’s head underground.”
“Understood.”
Just as Romina answered—
Boom!
A deafening explosion suddenly rang out from outside.
A moment later, one of their subordinates rushed inside.
“We have a huge problem!”
“What is it?”
“The Blue Fallen Leaves Special Operations Unit has attacked us!”
“What?”
The corners of Eli’s eyes shot upward sharply.
The Blue Fallen Leaves Special Operations Unit might have been Serian’s direct force, but they did not possess enough power or status to dare attack Eli directly.
“Hah! Those insignificant fools dared attack my home? And you just let them?”
“T-That’s…….”
“What is it?”
“There are two unfamiliar individuals fighting alongside the Blue Fallen Leaves Special Operations Unit.”
“So?”
“Because of them, our side is being pushed back.”
“How ridiculous. Our forces are losing because of just two people?”
Eli exploded in anger.
Although she had been exiled and forced to stay in a shabby house on the outskirts of the North District, this place was practically a fortress.
Many of her followers stayed here, and her forces were solid.
While not comparable to Serian’s main force, it certainly wasn’t weak enough to be overrun so easily.
The subordinate lowered his head apologetically.
“I’m sorry. We’ve never seen them before, but they’re unbelievably strong. Because of them, our side can’t do anything.”
“I’ll see for myself.”
Unable to suppress her curiosity any longer, Eli stepped out onto the balcony.
A barrier surrounded her house.
It was an elven barrier, further reinforced by Eli’s own power, making it as sturdy as an iron fortress.
There were only two ways to remove the barrier.
Either Eli granted permission—
Or it was forcibly destroyed through sheer power.
The Blue Fallen Leaves Special Operations Unit had chosen the second method.
The first had never been an option for them.
There was no way Eli would willingly allow them inside.
So they chose force instead.
An arrow shot through the air like a streak of light and slammed into the barrier.
Boom!
With a deafening explosion, the barrier surrounding Eli’s house rippled violently.
A single arrow had shaken the entire barrier.
The one who fired the arrow was a silver-haired male elf.
The elf, handsome enough to resemble a model, wore a silver mask.
A massive bow rested in his hands.
As he drew the bowstring, he muttered,
“So this really is Nylia’s Bow. The power is incredible.”
Twang!
As he pulled the string once more, another arrow shot toward the barrier at terrifying speed.
Craaack!
With an explosive sound, cracks spread across the entire barrier.
The moment Eli saw that, her face stiffened.
“Could that be… Nylia’s Bow?”
There was no way she wouldn’t recognize it.
Nylia’s Bow had been purchased at auction from the White Bear Caravan.
The bow once wielded by the elven hero Nylia.
To elves, it was practically a sacred treasure.
However, even after purchasing it, no owner had been chosen easily.
Only someone deemed worthy could wield Nylia’s Bow.
Both Serian and Eli had hoped one of their close aides would become its master.
Because of that, it had remained unused all this time.
And yet now, an elf she had never seen before was wielding Nylia’s Bow effortlessly.
Eli’s subordinates were trying to stop him, but they couldn’t advance because the Blue Fallen Leaves Special Operations Unit was holding them back.
The Blue Fallen Leaves Special Operations Unit led by Borin appeared at least twice as strong as usual.
Their bodies were enveloped in a blue aura.
Eli immediately recognized what it was.
“A buff?”
Her gaze shifted toward a hooded figure standing behind the Blue Fallen Leaves Special Operations Unit.
The hood concealed their identity, but it was obvious at a glance that the blue aura originated from them.
That person’s buff had increased the combat power of the Blue Fallen Leaves Special Operations Unit by more than double.
Eli bit her lip.
She thought she knew who they were.
“Punishers……”
As if responding to her words, another arrow flew toward the barrier.
Boom!
With a thunderous explosion, the barrier surrounding Eli’s house shattered into pieces.