Chapter 331

“Haah! I’m getting your help again. Thanks!”

Jang Yongbeom held out his blood-soaked hand.

Grabbing it, Zeon replied,

“I’m just glad I wasn’t too late.”

“Whew! Seriously, what kind of fucked-up place is this? We almost took massive losses.”

Letting out a sigh, Jang Yongbeom looked around.

Unlike the other raid groups, fortunately the raid led by Jang Yongbeom hadn’t suffered heavy casualties.

That was because Jang Yongbeom, Aiden, Giselle, and Mountain had displayed outstanding abilities and minimized the damage.

Thanks to that, they had managed to preserve their combat strength, but the four of them had completely exhausted their stamina.

As if waiting for that exact moment, a powerful undead appeared.

It was a headless knight, a Dullahan.

This insane undead tucked its severed head under its arm and swung it around like a club.

The problem was that the head was imbued with the energy of death.

Anyone struck by it died instantly.

Only those capable of protecting themselves with an Aura Shield could face the Dullahan. Naturally, there weren’t many like that.

Martial-type Awakeners of at least B-rank stepped forward to stop it. But the Dullahan cunningly avoided them and attacked the lower-ranked Awakeners instead.

The Awakeners couldn’t match the Dullahan’s mobility.

Because it was riding a demonized horse.

The horse, as massive as a medium-sized demonic beast, was itself a terrifying weapon.

It trampled Awakeners beneath its huge hooves and tore apart bodies with its teeth, slaughtering them indiscriminately.

The attacks of low-ranked Awakeners didn’t even affect the horse.

The horse was also undead, and as a being that denied death itself, ordinary attacks couldn’t damage it.

Eventually, just as Jang Yongbeom and Giselle were preparing to fight again before fully recovering their mana, Zeon and the other Awakeners appeared.

This time, Zeon didn’t even need to step forward.

Seo Taeran’s subordinates moved first.

Having released the first-stage seal and armed with gauntlets coated in holy water, they were the Dullahan’s natural enemies.

They weren’t even using Aura Shields, yet the Dullahan’s death energy had no effect on them.

Of course, death energy couldn’t kill absolutely everything. Still, any normal living being should have suffered at least some damage.

But for some reason, Seo Taeran’s subordinates suffered none at all.

Zeon clicked his tongue.

‘As expected, they aren’t normal humans.’

They were called bio soldiers, but they were no different from chimeras.

There might even be combinations hidden within them more vicious than chimeras.

Neo Seoul’s scientific technology had already advanced that far.

A bitter taste filled his mouth.

It was an unavoidable choice for humanity’s survival, but not even a god could predict what consequences would follow afterward.

Pushing aside his thoughts, Zeon spoke to Jang Yongbeom.

“We don’t have much time.”

“Looks that way. This is a dungeon, right?”

“Yes. And it belongs to a crazy necromancer.”

“Couldn’t have gotten stuck with a filthier bastard. A necromancer, of all things.”

“Have you encountered one before?”

“If I had, I probably wouldn’t still be alive. But I always thought one would show up eventually. Elves, dwarves, werewolves, all kinds of races have appeared already. No way necromancers wouldn’t appear too.”

“That’s true.”

“The problem is that we met one sooner than I expected. So, what’s the plan?”

“A swift battle.”

“Heh! Then let’s move immediately.”

Jang Yongbeom instantly understood Zeon’s intention.

The longer this dragged on, the greater the casualties among the Awakeners would become, and every Awakener who died would only increase the enemy’s numbers.

To minimize losses, they had to kill the bastard as quickly as possible.

There was no time to sit around and rest leisurely.

He gave an order to his subordinates.

“Everyone up. We move immediately.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Let’s go!”

His subordinates, who had been collapsed on the ground resting, groaned as they got back to their feet.

Through conversations with the Awakeners who had joined them, they had also realized the severity of the situation, so despite their exhaustion, they forced themselves to move.

Zeon estimated the number of Awakeners.

‘About thirteen hundred?’

Three thousand four hundred people had fallen into this place.

That meant they still hadn’t rescued even half of them.

He didn’t know how many survivors remained, but they had to save as many as possible.

Numbers meant power.

As several scattered groups gathered together, naturally their combat strength increased.

By several times over.

Kraaah!

Huuugh!

Zombies attacked, but unlike before, they were no longer helplessly overwhelmed.

While the martial-type Awakeners acted as tanks and held the line, the magic-type Awakeners unleashed skills and exterminated the undead.

Those with slightly higher ranks were handled by Seo Taeran’s subordinates, Giselle, Aiden, and the others.

After fighting so many undead, the Awakeners had finally gotten the hang of it.

They now understood how to eliminate the creatures effectively.

Against Awakeners who had regained their composure, zombies were no longer much of a threat.

At the center of it all stood Jang Yongbeom and Seo Taeran.

Jang Yongbeom led the Awakeners at the front with sheer charisma, while Seo Taeran identified the weaknesses of newly appearing undead and shared the information.

Thanks to that, neither Zeon nor the old man needed to step in, allowing them to focus on recovering their mana.

The Awakeners advanced like a raging tide, crushing the undead in their path.

Occasionally, when too many zombies appeared or a high-grade undead emerged, the old man, Zeon, or Jang Yongbeom would personally step in to deal with them.

Meanwhile, more survivors joined their ranks, and the number of Awakeners surpassed two thousand.

Once their number exceeded two thousand, morale began to rise.

They were no longer defeated stragglers or drifting weeds without leadership.

With powerful figures like Zeon, Jang Yongbeom, and Seo Taeran holding the center, they united as one and displayed overwhelming strength.

Levin, who had gone scouting in spirit form, returned and shouted loudly to the others.

“There’s a group of survivors four hundred meters ahead. The enemies are zombies, ghost hounds, specters, and a Dullahan!”

“A full mixed bowl, huh? Alright!”

“You heard him. They’ve thrown everything together. Attack according to your compatibility matchups.”

“You don’t have to tell us twice.”

The Awakeners replied confidently.

They had already fought every one of those creatures before.

They already knew how to deal with them.

One of the Awakeners said to Levin,

“The specters are your job, kid!”

“Hah! Just leave it to me.”

“Of course we trust you, Ghost Bird!”

“Huh?”

“It’s just the nickname we use for you among ourselves.”

“Aw, come on! What kind of nickname is that? Isn’t there something cooler?”

“That’s the coolest one, brat! Anyway, we’re heading out first. Hahaha!”

Levin smiled as he watched the Awakener run off joking until the very end.

‘Please survive to the end…’

Praying for his survival, Levin transformed into a ghost and flew away.

Meanwhile, Seo Taeran was watching Levin carefully.

She was impressed by Levin’s ability to turn ghost-like, just like a Specter, and freely scout around.

Seo Taeran approached Zeon.

“That Levin…”

“No.”

Zeon flatly refused before she could even finish speaking.

Seo Taeran looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.

“How do you even know what I was going to say…?”

“You want to study Levin’s abilities. And if possible, you want your subordinates to gain similar abilities too.”

“If you truly wish to improve humanity’s chances of survival, I believe you’d naturally cooperate as well, Mr. Zeon.”

Seo Taeran stared directly into Zeon’s eyes.

Eyes without the slightest wavering.

They were eyes filled with conviction.

People with those kinds of eyes were always the most troublesome to deal with.

Because they could do anything for the sake of their beliefs.

Though her nature differed from Seo Taeran’s.

“I refuse.”

“Can you take responsibility for those words?”

“Seo Taeran.”

“Yes?”

“Can you take responsibility instead?”

Zeon also stared directly into Seo Taeran’s eyes.

The orange glow hidden within his black pupils slowly began to shine.

The bloody radiance filled Seo Taeran with fear.

‘Just from this much…?’

Seo Taeran clenched her teeth.

She had always been confident in her mental strength.

She believed she wouldn’t be overwhelmed by something as trivial as another person’s gaze—

But in that moment, within Zeon’s eyes, she saw an enormous mountain of sand.

The blood-colored glow transformed into a gigantic sand mountain rushing toward her.

Taller than the legendary Mount Everest said to have existed long ago, the sand mountain surged at her like a colossal tidal wave.

What she had mistaken for a mountain of sand was actually a massive sand tsunami raised by Zeon.

In front of that overwhelming wave of sand, Seo Taeran herself was pitifully insignificant.

Like an ant beneath someone’s feet that could be crushed without notice.

Behind an existence smaller than an ant stood Neo Seoul.

But even the gigantic Neo Seoul looked tiny and fragile before the violently advancing sand tsunami.

No matter how much anti-magic power Neo Seoul possessed, there was no guarantee it could withstand an attack of such sheer mass.

Only then did Seo Taeran realize it.

The scene she was witnessing was a future Zeon was showing her.

Whether he could truly create a sand tsunami of that magnitude was uncertain, but even if he could reproduce only one-tenth of it, Neo Seoul would suffer irreversible damage.

‘This man is far too enormous. He’s not someone I can handle.’

Drip.

Blood flowed from the corner of her lips.

Simply facing the illusion Zeon projected had inflicted severe damage on both her mind and body.

Even Jin Geumho couldn’t do something like this.

She hurriedly shut her eyes tightly and bowed her head.

“I apologize. I withdraw what I said.”

“One more thing.”

“Yes?”

“Tell the rulers of the other districts to stop taking interest in Levin as well. I don’t want to concern myself with this matter again.”

“I… understand.”

Seo Taeran barely managed to answer.

Normally, she would have felt intense humiliation at this point, but right now she didn’t even have the mental capacity for that.

She had been utterly overwhelmed by the presence and illusion Zeon had revealed for a brief instant.

It had dealt a devastating blow to her mind.

Zeon looked expressionlessly at Seo Taeran, who still hadn’t fully recovered herself.

Levin’s abilities had limitless potential.

He could become the ultimate assassin, an undetectable scout, or even serve like a navigator.

Any organization that recruited Levin would essentially gain the sharpest blade imaginable.

Naturally, people couldn’t help but covet him.

Zeon wanted to protect Levin as much as possible until the boy gained the ability to protect himself.

But Levin’s secret had been exposed in front of countless Awakeners.

His abilities were no longer a secret.

Numerous guilds and raid groups would covet Levin and approach him.

Everything had to be Levin’s own decision.

Not the coercion of City Hall or the rulers of each district.

Zeon intended to protect Levin only until that point.

Levin’s true independence would begin then.

“Hyaaaah!”

“Die, you beasts!”

“You filthy monsters!”

The furious shouts of the Awakeners echoed from ahead.

In the meantime, battle had already begun.

As they advanced further, an enormous underground chamber appeared.

Inside the underground space, Awakeners were fiercely battling against the undead.

Here too, Levin was displaying dazzling prowess.

Flying through the air in ghost form, Levin chased down the Specters at terrifying speed.

Having fought them once before, he could now somewhat predict their trajectories.

So before they could approach the people, he cut off their paths and unleashed Purple Lightning.

Specifically against Specters alone.

Crackle!

The Specters vanished helplessly, like flies struck by an electric fly swatter.

Zeon smiled.

“You’re growing well.”