Chapter 337
Zeon, Levin, Brielle, and Mandy sat inside an armored bus, looking out the window.
It was the bus returning to Neo Seoul.
Besides Zeon’s group, quite a few others were riding inside as well.
Every single one of them had fallen into deep sleep from exhaustion.
And understandably so.
From the very moment they had departed Neo Seoul, they had been pushed through an unbelievably grueling march.
Nor was there only one or two buses heading back to Neo Seoul.
Dozens of buses were returning together.
Normally, they would have worried about attacks from magical beasts, but with this many buses moving as one convoy, everyone knew even magical beasts wouldn’t attack recklessly.
That was why they could finally sleep peacefully.
Levin and Brielle were no different.
The only people still awake on the bus were Zeon and Mandy.
After staring out the window for quite a while, Mandy suddenly spoke.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Because of you, a lot of people survived.”
“It was nothing…”
At her unexpected words, Zeon merely gave a faint smile.
“When we get back to Neo Seoul, I think I’m just going to rest without thinking about anything.”
“You should.”
“I’ve completed a lot of missions, but this was the hardest journey I’ve ever experienced.”
“I can imagine.”
“Do you think there’ll be more?”
“Hm?”
“Things like that necromancer.”
“Why do you think that?”
“I don’t know. It just feels like this can’t possibly be the end.”
Mandy let out a deep sigh.
As a half-elf, her instincts were far sharper and more sensitive than those of ordinary humans.
And she also knew far more about the secrets of Kurayan than most humans did.
Looking out the window, Zeon murmured,
“No one knows what the future holds. I only hope these kinds of changes don’t happen too dramatically.”
“Haa… Honestly, just living peacefully in Neo Seoul sounds best. But I guess a normal life like that is impossible now, right?”
“Who knows? Just enjoy this moment while you can.”
“Haa… You really are carefree. Fine. I’ll try too.”
Mandy let out another sigh and sank deeply into her seat.
Thinking that Mandy’s intuition was rather frightening, Zeon turned his gaze back outside.
Dozens of buses raced across the desert, kicking up enormous clouds of dust.
“Hoo…”
A deep sigh escaped Zeon’s lips as well.
Neo Seoul, which he returned to after so long, was peaceful.
Back at the new magic stone mine, battles fierce enough to shake the heavens had occurred daily, yet the people here were completely unaware of them.
That was how far removed from civilization those events had taken place.
People seemed to have little interest in things happening far away.
“Waaah! Home!”
“UOOOOH!”
—Bei!
The moment they returned home, Brielle, Levin, and even Gaia started causing chaos together.
The three ran and flew wildly around the room in excitement.
Zeon sat down on the red sofa and gazed out the window.
Though it had been a long time since he’d returned, Neo Seoul’s scenery had not changed at all.
Even the city hall building visible beyond the red neon signs looked exactly the same.
Rubbing his eyes, Zeon muttered,
“I’m tired.”
He didn’t mean it lightly.
That was how much mental energy he had expended during this trip.
The half-dragon Nigel was the problem.
Zeon could not reveal Nigel’s existence to others.
Not only was it doubtful anyone would even believe him, but publicly claiming dragons existed would throw Neo Seoul into chaos.
For the time being, it seemed he alone would have to bear knowledge of Nigel.
He didn’t even have the energy to continue thinking.
“Gaia!”
—Be!
“If I catch you, you’re dead.”
—Be! Ppibi!
“Where did you even learn to say such bad things?”
—Bei!
The cause of the commotion was Brielle and Gaia running around right in front of him.
Having finally come out of subspace after so long, Gaia flew around the entire room like a fish returned to water, while Brielle busily chased after it.
It was complete chaos.
“Hah.”
And yet somehow, watching them made him smile.
It was better than suffocating silence.
Zeon didn’t dislike this kind of noise.
At that moment, Levin burst out of his room shouting,
“Who took the little dagger I kept in my room?”
“Gah!”
“That’s a dungeon-made item! Hand it over already!”
“We got caught! Run, Gaia!”
Brielle and Gaia hurried into the room and slammed the door shut behind them.
Levin arrived moments later and pounded on the door several times, but it remained firmly closed.
Levin let out a deep sigh.
“Those troublemakers… There’s seriously never a quiet day with them around.”
“You okay without that item?”
“Well, it’s not that amazing, so it’s fine.”
“Then that’s good.”
“You should check whether any of your stuff disappeared too. Lately Brielle’s been feeding Gaia items with elemental attributes.”
“Probably to strengthen Gaia’s power.”
“You knew?”
“It’d be stranger if I didn’t. Don’t worry. Gaia already claimed anything worthwhile among my belongings. There’s nothing left worth stealing.”
“Ah…”
Levin unconsciously let out a gasp.
Only then did he realize Gaia mostly stayed inside Zeon’s subspace.
To Gaia, Zeon’s subspace was practically a treasure vault.
It wandered around freely, looking through everything, and absorbed any item it liked.
Zeon never stopped Gaia from doing so.
Because he knew Gaia would never touch truly dangerous or important items without his permission.
As a result, a corner of Zeon’s subspace still remained piled with powerful artifacts he had collected in the past.
But Zeon had no desire to take those abandoned items back out.
As if suddenly remembering something, Zeon asked,
“What about Aaron and Dominic?”
“They said they’re gonna rest at home for a while. Looks like they got thoroughly traumatized this time. Honestly, it’s probably for the best.”
Levin smirked.
The raid team Aaron and Dominic belonged to had practically collapsed during this expedition.
When they fell into the underground fissure, the team lost most of its main combat force, forcing the raid team to officially disband.
It wasn’t common for raid teams to voluntarily dissolve.
But too many key members had either died or been crippled beyond recovery.
In the end, Aaron and Dominic had no choice but to drift back to Neo Seoul.
It was unfortunate for them, but for Levin, it was good news.
At least now he wouldn’t have to worry about them dying.
As he walked into his room, Levin said,
“I’m gonna spend a while catching up on sleep. You should rest too, hyung.”
“Yeah.”
Zeon smiled and waved his hand.
He, too, intended to sleep for quite a while.
Sinking deeply into the sofa, Zeon closed his eyes.
Meanwhile, Jin Geumho stood with his hands behind his back, staring up at a gigantic structure.
The enormous structure was nearly the size of a three-story building.
The gigantic structure made from magical beast byproducts and a special metal developed independently in Neo Seoul looked, at first glance, like an enormous telescope.
Its long, rounded body was densely engraved with countless mana circuits whose purpose was impossible to discern.
“Be careful over there!”
“If it’s off by even an inch, everything will be ruined. Stay focused, everyone.”
Researchers atop the structure were fully absorbed in their work.
On the separated section of the structure, they were in the middle of installing a massive object.
Jin Geumho watched the object slowly descending toward the center of the structure and muttered,
“That mana engine contains the very essence of Neo Seoul.”
It was a mana engine created using none other than Moby Dick’s heart as its base.
Naturally, the tremendous mana once contained within Moby Dick’s heart had been concentrated intact inside it.
That single mana engine alone could supply all the power needed for Neo Seoul.
Even so, a faint trace of dissatisfaction lingered on Jin Geumho’s face.
The mana contained within Moby Dick’s heart was weaker than he had expected.
Clang!
With a metallic noise, the mana engine connected to the cylindrical object.
Wiiing!
With the sound of electricity flowing, lights illuminated across the cylindrical structure.
Jin Geumho silently stared at the cylindrical object shining brilliantly like a miniature sun.
That was when it happened.
Woooong!
The lower portion of the cylindrical object flickered unstably.
It was proof that the mana supply was not flowing smoothly.
As expected, the lead researcher spoke with an apologetic expression.
“As expected, there isn’t enough mana. It seems we’ll need to create one more auxiliary engine.”
“So it is after all?”
The corner of Jin Geumho’s eye twitched.
He tried to hide his emotions, but his displeasure showed clearly.
That was how poor his mood was.
“We need the heart of an S-rank magical beast.”
“An S-rank…”
“I apologize.”
The researcher bowed deeply as though he had committed a crime.
Obtaining the intact heart of an S-rank magical beast was by no means easy.
Creatures at the level of S-rank magical beasts would rather blow apart their entire bodies than hand over even a single bone fragment.
And that tendency only grew stronger when many people attacked them at once.
That was why acquiring a complete heart from an S-rank magical beast was so difficult.
At that moment—
“Would the heart of a Kraken suffice?”
A cold voice suddenly came from the entrance.
When they turned their heads, Seo Taeran was walking toward them, her heels clicking sharply against the floor.
A faint smile appeared on Jin Geumho’s lips.
“You’ve returned.”
“Thanks to your concern, I was able to return safely.”
“But did you say Kraken?”
“Yes. I was fortunate enough to obtain the heart of an S-rank magical beast in perfect condition.”
“That’s excellent. You’ve done well.”
“It was nothing. I’m just glad I could help.”
Seo Taeran bowed her head as she answered.
A moment later, she raised her head and looked toward the cylindrical object.
“So this is… Heavenly Punishment?”
“That’s right. The masterpiece of my life. There are still a few obstacles remaining, including the mana engine, but the framework is nearly complete.”
“That’s… good.”
Seo Taeran’s voice trembled faintly.
It had been a very long time since the woman known as the Iron-Blooded Lady had shown this much emotion.
Jin Geumho quietly observed her before opening his mouth.
“What about Zeon?”
“He should have returned home by now.”
“Did he hide honey in that house or something? He really loves going home.”
“That’s fortunate for us.”
“Is it?”
“If he had been interested in Neo Seoul instead of his home, our plans would have suffered greatly.”
“I suppose so.”
Jin Geumho nodded slowly.
Zeon was like chicken ribs—
Too hot to eat, yet too precious to throw away.
That was why even Jin Geumho, the mayor of Neo Seoul, had been unable to make a decision regarding Zeon.
Jin Geumho reached out and stroked the cylindrical object.
“I heard a Necromancer appeared?”
“That’s correct. If not for Zeon, many people would have died.”
“The world’s turning points are arriving faster than I anticipated. Fortunately, Zeon was there this time to prevent massive casualties, but there’s no guarantee it’ll happen again next time. That’s why we must complete Heavenly Punishment as quickly as possible. No matter what sacrifices are required…”
Jin Geumho’s voice carried an unwavering conviction.
He was a man who had already sacrificed countless people to reach this point.
But this was far from his final destination.
He still had a long road ahead of him.
“Until then, I will never stop, nor will I ever look back. No matter what sacrifices must be made…”