Chapter 325

The demonic beast that had hidden most of its body beneath the sand, exposing only its enormous eyes, was none other than the Kraken.

Zeon was reflected in the retinas of the Kraken, which was larger than a human.

Zeon stared directly back into the Kraken’s eyes.
The gaze of the gigantic demonic beast and the tiny human collided in midair.

The Kraken’s eyes, fixed on Zeon, were filled with hostility.

It still remembered clearly that Zeon had attacked it.

The Kraken possessed intelligence rivaling that of humans.

It never forgot ordinary memories, no matter how much time passed.

Moreover, Zeon had attacked it using sand.

There was no way it would forget that grudge.

Srrrk!

The ground trembled as the Kraken writhed beneath the sand.

It was as if the entire area was its territory, and it was flaunting its dominance.

‘Cunning bastard.’

Beneath the sandy ground where the Kraken had settled lay a mana stone mine.

At first glance, it looked like there was an enormous amount of sand, but in reality, there was only enough to barely submerge the Kraken’s body.
That amount of sand would not be enough to inflict serious damage on the Kraken.

The Kraken knew that as well, which was why it was provoking Zeon so openly.

Through the sand, Zeon estimated the Kraken’s size.

‘Each leg is at least fifty meters long. Incredible.’

Considering that an octopus had eight legs, the creature’s overall size was monstrous.

If a monster of this scale latched onto something with its suction cups, even Mobydick, Gaia’s mother, would not escape unharmed.

Such a terrifying monster was hiding beneath the sand.

Zeon and the Kraken glared at each other for a long time.

After an extended battle of nerves, Zeon finally turned around and headed back to where his companions were waiting.

His back prickled the entire time he walked.

He could feel the Kraken staring holes through him.

It looked ready to attack at any moment, yet it did not move an inch from its nest.

‘So it really won’t move over something like this?’

It was far more intelligent than he had expected.

The place Zeon was walking through now was slightly removed from the mana stone mine and filled completely with sand.

If the Kraken had ambushed Zeon there, Zeon would instead have dragged it out and launched a counterattack.

But the Kraken, cunning as it was, seemed to have seen right through Zeon’s trap and refused to budge.

‘This won’t be easy.’

This type of demonic beast was the most troublesome to deal with.

It was better to face creatures that blindly charged in relying solely on brute strength.
When something already possessed overwhelming power and was also cautious and intelligent, the opponent had to expend several times more mental and physical energy to deal with it.

There was another thing they had to worry about.

They first needed to determine whether the rift that had swallowed three thousand four hundred people had been caused by the demonic beast’s authority or whether it had simply been a natural disaster.

If the rift truly had been created by the Kraken’s power, then its rank would need to be reassessed.

When Zeon returned to the rift, Brielle welcomed him.

“You’re back.”

“What about the barrier?”

“They’re still analyzing it.”

The old man stood before the rift, staring down at the barrier.

He looked as though he were merely gazing blankly at it, but incredibly precise calculations were taking place inside his mind.

At that moment, Seo Taeran approached Zeon.

“I heard you went to see the Kraken?”

“Yes.”

“What was it like?”

“It was impressive.”

“How does it compare to Mobydick?”

“I think I’d have to fight it directly to know for sure.”

“It’s on that level?”

Seo Taeran frowned.

Mobydick was a monster whose rank could not even be estimated.

If the Kraken could be compared to such a creature, then it undoubtedly possessed terrifying authority.

“It’s intelligent. Not only smart, but capable of accurately assessing its opponent’s abilities.”

“The most troublesome kind.”

“For now, we need to remove the barrier and save the people. Dealing with the Kraken comes afterward.”

“Agreed.”

Seo Taeran nodded.

Zeon stared intently at her face.

“What?”

“I’m curious.”

“About what?”

“The real reason you came here.”

“To save people, obviously.”

“I think there’s another reason too.”

“There isn’t.”

Seo Taeran answered coldly before walking back toward the old man.

Watching her retreating figure, Brielle clicked her tongue.

“Wow. What a terrible attitude.”

Zeon nodded in agreement.

After returning to the old man’s side, Seo Taeran issued orders to her subordinates.

It seemed she was instructing them to strengthen the perimeter security.

That was when it happened.

Kwoooar!
Krrrgh!

Suddenly, the roars of demonic beasts echoed out.

Looking toward the direction of the sound, they saw gigantic demonic beasts approaching their location.

Every single one of them was enormous.

“Well, look at that.”

Zeon’s eyes gleamed sharply.

Creatures of that size could easily escape even if Zeon created a pseudo-zone.

The Kraken had probably watched Zeon use Quicksand and deliberately summoned larger beasts.

Zeon carefully observed the faces of the approaching monsters.

Every single one had vacant, unfocused eyes.

That confirmed one of the Kraken’s authorities.

“So it can dominate the minds of demonic beasts weaker than itself.”

Among the beasts charging toward the rift, there were none above B-rank.

That proved the Kraken’s mental domination did not work on beasts capable of deploying force fields.

However, it seemed to work perfectly on creatures ranked C or below.

Judging by the way they charged forward mindlessly.

Zeon called the twin sisters over and told them to interfere with the beasts’ minds.

The twins focused their concentration and attempted to access the monsters’ consciousnesses.
But their faces immediately turned pale, and they opened their eyes.

“We got pushed back.”

“The mental domination is too strong. We can’t break into it.”

Both twins shook their heads.

Stepping in front of them, Zeon spoke.

“It seems the Kraken’s mental domination surpasses your abilities.”

“Ugh! This is so annoying.”

“To lose to nothing but an octopus-head.”

The twin sisters ground their teeth in frustration.

Even at that moment, the demonic beasts continued drawing closer.

Pulling his authority together, Zeon spoke.

“Now’s not the time to complain. We have to stop them from interfering with the old man.”

“We know.”

“Don’t worry.”

The twins scoffed confidently and prepared for battle.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The demonic beasts had almost reached them.

That was when the giant gorilla-like beast leading the pack suddenly floated into the air.

Kwoooar!

The gorilla beast flailed its limbs in confusion, but its suspended body showed no sign of descending.

At that moment, the twin sisters shouted simultaneously.

“Go!”

Whoosh!

The gorilla demonic beast shot toward the other monsters like a bullet and slammed into them.

Kwooon!

Krrgh!

The enormous gorilla beast crashed into five or six demonic beasts, sending them tumbling across the ground.

Brielle looked at Zeon in surprise.

“Telekinesis?”

“They’re both exceptional mental-type ability users.”

When mental power developed to a high enough level, it enabled not only telepathy but telekinesis as well.

Considering both women were A-rank Awakeners, it would actually have been stranger if they couldn’t use telekinesis.

Seo Taeran’s subordinates also moved out to stop the monsters.

Boom!

Smash!

Seo Taeran’s men fearlessly engaged the gigantic beasts in brutal close combat.

Zeon carefully observed the way they fought.

Brielle asked with a puzzled expression,

“What?”

“Something feels off.”

“Who? Them?”

“Yeah.”

“What do you mean?”

“It doesn’t look like they’re fighting with their full strength.”

“Really?”

At Zeon’s words, Brielle looked toward Seo Taeran’s subordinates again.

They were locked in desperate combat against the giant demonic beasts.

Unlike the twin sisters, they fought directly on the front lines in hand-to-hand combat.

Their battle was savage.

Blood sprayed, flesh tore apart, and bones shattered in a primitive and brutal clash.

The monsters struck down by Seo Taeran’s subordinates screamed as they collapsed, yet the humans suffered massive injuries as well.

But no matter how badly wounded they became, not one of them let out so much as a groan.

Crunch!

Even when they were crushed to death beneath a demonic beast’s gigantic foot.

“Don’t tell me their vocal cords were removed?”

“I don’t think so. They respond when Seo Taeran speaks to them.”

“Then are they the product of some kind of training?”

“Probably…”

“Insane.”

Brielle’s eyes shook.

She couldn’t even imagine what kind of training could make humans remain silent even at the moment of death.

“Are they really even human?”

“Who knows.”

Zeon’s gaze shifted toward Seo Taeran.

Seo Taeran stood in front of the old man with her arms crossed.

She looked ready to jump into battle at any moment.

Feeling his gaze, Seo Taeran looked back at Zeon.

Even then, the battle was growing fiercer.

The situation gradually turned against the humans.

The overwhelming number of demonic beasts was steadily forcing them backward.

Just as the humans were pushed to the brink—

“I opened the door!”

The old man’s shout echoed across the battlefield.

He had finally succeeded in unlocking the barrier.

However, he had not completely removed it.

He had merely opened a door just large enough for a person to pass through.

The situation had become too urgent.
Unable to fully unlock the barrier, he had no choice but to create only an opening large enough for people to enter.

“Hurry! I can’t keep the door open for long!”

At the old man’s cry, Seo Taeran issued orders to her subordinates.

“Everyone retreat and enter the door.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

The subordinates who had remained silent throughout the battle answered in unison as they fell back.

The barrier door was located dozens of meters underground from where they stood.

An ordinary person would never dare jump into it, but there were no ordinary humans here.

Led by the old man, the twin sisters, Seo Taeran and her subordinates, followed by Brielle and Zeon, all leapt into the small opening formed in the barrier.

The demonic beasts also hurled themselves after them, but the instant Zeon entered, the door vanished.

The old man had restored the barrier to its original state.

Unaware of this, the monsters crashed directly into the barrier.

Kraaaah!

The beasts let out agonized screams.

The tremendous force contained within the barrier instantly melted them away.

The monsters vanished without even being able to resist.

“Crazy!”

“If we’d just jumped in recklessly, we would’ve ended up like that too!”

The twin sisters shuddered as they looked upward.

They were slowly descending like feathers while holding onto the old man’s arms.

Using telekinesis, they controlled the speed of their fall.

Beside them, Zeon held Brielle’s hand and matched their pace.

He was supporting his body with sand.

Meanwhile, Seo Taeran and her subordinates had already dropped so deep that they were no longer visible.

Still holding Brielle’s hand, Zeon looked around.

Unlike the sand-covered surface above, the underground area was made of solid bedrock.

“Mana stones.”

“Don’t tell me this is all mana stone?”

Brielle and the twin sisters stared at Zeon in shock.

“It’s real. All of this is mana stone.”

“All of it?”

“This is insane.”

The twins and the old man wore dazed expressions.

What they had seen before were refined mana stones extracted from mines.
This was the first time they had ever seen them in their natural state.

“At this scale, Neo Seoul could use it for a thousand years and still have some left.”

“This is unbelievable.”

At Zeon’s words, the old man broke into a wide grin.

But his smile did not last long.

The moment they landed on the ground, countless corpses greeted them.

They were the bodies of the expedition team that had arrived earlier.

Everyone froze at the horrific sight.