Chapter 349
Brielle let out a deep sigh.
“Haah! We’re a little late.”
She looked back and forth between Heather and Chensi, collapsed on the ground.
Through the hole pierced through Heather’s back, the floor was visible.
Blood gushed from the wound in heavy spurts as Heather convulsed.
It was a fatal injury, one step away from death.
“Mom!”
Remura tried to run to Heather, but Chensi stopped her.
“It’s dangerous.”
“Let go of me. We have to save Mom.”
Remura desperately tried to shake off Chensi’s arm. But a young girl couldn’t possibly overpower an awakened one.
Bakum, who had been protecting Remura, was busy attacking the awakened one who ambushed Heather.
Because of that, he couldn’t pay attention to Remura.
“It wasn’t me. I said it wasn’t.”
The awakened one who attacked Heather desperately tried to explain himself, but no one listened.
Everyone’s eyes were focused on the E-rank awakened one who attacked Heather.
This too was Chensi’s doing.
Manipulating people through hypnosis was one of her specialties.
The lingering traces of mana Chensi subtly spread caused people to fall under hypnosis. Because of that, they were unable to make proper judgments.
Levin looked at Chensi.
“Are you the one who caused all this, ma’am?”
“Calling a maiden ‘ma’am’?”
“You’re obviously a ma’am. Let go of Remura and let’s talk quietly.”
“Hoho! How amusing, child. Why should I?”
“Because that’s the only way you’ll survive too.”
“You think I fear death?”
“What are you talking about? Everyone’s afraid of death.”
“I am different. For God and Lord Johan, I can gladly throw away this one life.”
Chensi smiled, baring her white teeth.
Madness swirled across her face.
“Haah!”
Levin sighed again.
He’d always felt this way, but dealing with fanatics like this was utterly exhausting.
‘How does Brother Zeon deal with people like this so casually?’
The more he thought about it, the more incredible Zeon seemed.
At that moment, Brielle stepped forward.
“Ma’am! Let Remura go while we’re still asking nicely.”
“Hah! You damn brats…”
After being called “ma’am” by Brielle right after Levin, Chensi’s expression twisted.
No matter how composed she pretended to be, hearing “ma’am” over and over was bound to sting any unmarried woman.
Levin and Brielle kept calling her that because they knew it bothered her.
Then Jetoya opened his mouth.
“Why are you doing this?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why are you manipulating people into fighting each other?”
“Obviously to take this little lady with us.”
“Haah! Without even asking what Remura wants?”
“She’ll love it once she goes to Dongdaemun. It’s clean, wealthy, and everyone will treat her like royalty. There’s no reason she wouldn’t like it.”
Jetoya sighed at Chensi’s words.
Then he asked Remura,
“Remura! Do you want to go to the surface?”
“No! I just need Mom. I don’t want to go to the surface.”
Remura shook her head, tears streaming down her face.
“You heard her, ma’am. So give up on your fantasy and let her go.”
“You little brats are really getting on my nerves. If any of you take even one more step, this child dies. Got it?”
Chensi tightened her grip around Remura’s neck.
In an instant, Remura’s face turned deathly pale.
Jetoya flinched and stepped back.
Levin grabbed Jetoya’s shoulder and spoke.
“That woman can’t kill Remura. If she does, Johan will lose his mind in rage. So you stop them. If we’re too late, this’ll turn into a huge disaster.”
“Yes, hyung.”
Jetoya answered and walked toward Bakum.
Under Chensi’s hypnosis, Bakum’s eyes were bloodshot red.
Bakum was a C-rank martial-type awakened one.
He was far stronger than Jetoya, who was only D-rank.
Normally, Jetoya would never have dared challenge him. But after fighting fierce battles against the desert monsters alongside Levin and Brielle, both his abilities and confidence had grown tremendously.
“Mr. Bakum! It’s me, Jetoya.”
“Move aside, Jetoya. If you stand in my way, I won’t spare you either.”
“It’s all that woman’s scheme. Please, come to your senses.”
“Shut up.”
Bakum roared.
Right now, there was only one thought in his mind:
He had to kill the awakened one who attacked Heather.
Bakum kicked off the ground and hurled himself toward the awakened one who attacked Heather.
“Damn it!”
Jetoya also threw himself forward.
Now was not the time for the Crocodile Cave awakened ones to fight among themselves.
They needed to unite against Dongdaemun’s schemes.
Boom!
Jetoya and Bakum collided midair.
The overwhelming impact twisted Jetoya’s face in pain.
As he desperately blocked Bakum’s attacks, he shouted toward Levin,
“Hurry and deal with that woman!”
“Okay!”
Levin answered and approached Chensi.
Watching the situation closely, Chensi clicked her tongue.
“Tch! Those brats are interfering.”
From the moment Levin and the others appeared, Chensi had been searching for a chance to escape.
Like most hypnosis abilities, hers didn’t work well against those with strong minds.
The weakened awakened ones who had spent too long underground easily fell under her mental control, but it had no effect on Levin and Brielle.
They were steadily tightening the encirclement, completely cutting off Chensi’s escape routes.
Chensi slipped a hand into her clothes and muttered,
“I hope he comes as quickly as possible.”
What she pulled out was a small angel statue.
The cute figurine of a winged angel drawing a bow was a special item Johan had personally granted her.
The angel statue’s name was Angel of Salvation.
True to its name, it was an item used to request rescue.
No matter where it was, it would instantly fly to Dongdaemun and guide them to Chensi’s location.
“Go!”
Chensi muttered as she infused mana into the angel statue.
At that moment, an enormous light burst from the statue, and it shot away at terrifying speed.
It happened before Levin and Brielle could react.
The angel statue vanished into the darkness in an instant.
With a triumphant smile, Chensi spoke,
“Hoho! Lord Johan will come rushing here shortly.”
“Will he now?”
“What?”
“Looks like you forgot whose territory this is.”
Levin smirked.
Puhwaak!
With a powerful flash of light, an angel burst out from the underground sewer.
Flapping its tiny wings, the angel soared high into the sky and fired a small arrow.
Boom!
The arrow exploded like fireworks, creating dazzling sparks.
Johan, who was heading toward Sinchon with the Holy Knights, saw the spectacle.
“That…”
The corners of Johan’s eyes trembled.
There was no way he wouldn’t recognize it.
After all, he himself had bestowed the Angel of Salvation upon Chensi.
The Angel of Salvation was, true to its name, an item used to request aid from Dongdaemun.
Dark Saints like Chensi would never ask for rescue no matter how endangered their lives were.
There was only one circumstance in which they would send a rescue request.
When a serious problem arose just before completing their mission.
A smile formed on Johan’s lips.
Chensi’s mission was to secure the Saintess.
So the fact that she had released the Angel of Salvation meant one thing:
Either she had secured the Saintess, or she had identified her location and encountered trouble.
“So Chensi finally succeeded.”
The only problem was that the Angel of Salvation had appeared over Sinchon.
But Johan, blinded by his obsession with obtaining the Saintess, no longer considered Sinchon a major obstacle.
He hurriedly tried to enter Sinchon with the Holy Knights.
But at the entrance to Sinchon, he was forced to stop.
Because a man blocked the road ahead.
The corners of Johan’s eyes twitched.
“Zeon!”
“Lord Johan!”
The man standing before Johan with a smile was none other than Zeon.
As he approached Johan, he spoke.
“This is a violation of our agreement.”
“A violation?”
“Wasn’t the agreed time limit one month? I kept my promise and allowed Dongdaemun’s followers to operate freely for a month. But now you’re bringing in troops?”
“So this was your plan from the very beginning?”
“I’m not sure what you mean, Lord Johan.”
“You set a one-month limit to chain our hands. You knew from the start, didn’t you? That the one we were searching for was beneath Sinchon.”
“I have no idea what fantasy you’re talking about. I only know one thing.”
Zeon’s smile deepened.
“That Lord Johan broke our agreement and invaded.”
“You dare play word games with me?”
Johan’s eyebrows rose sharply.
His fury stirred the killing intent of the Holy Knights lined up behind him.
Just facing them was enough to make one’s knees tremble.
But Zeon, standing before them, remained perfectly calm.
“This isn’t wordplay. I’m simply asking you to keep your promise. You clearly agreed that activities in Sinchon would last one month. So what exactly is the problem?”
“And yet?”
Johan’s face turned even more terrifying.
Because he believed Zeon was mocking him.
Killing intent erupted from Johan as he spoke.
“Move aside, Zeon!”
“I cannot do that.”
“You dare defy God’s will?”
“I don’t particularly believe in gods.”
Zeon’s indifferent reply enraged the Holy Knights.
“How dare he deny God!”
“That unbeliever…”
The Holy Knights stirred as if they would charge Zeon at any moment.
They already held deep resentment toward him.
Because of Zeon alone, they had been forced to retreat just before completely taking over Sinchon.
That humiliation remained as a scar in their hearts.
Johan spoke.
“I will give you one final chance. Open the way, Zeon. Once we secure the Saintess, we will quietly withdraw.”
“Did God truly say that?”
“What?”
“That the healer is the Saintess.”
“You dare question the words of God?”
“I’m genuinely curious. Just what kind of god whispers that a healer is the Saintess and incites you like this?”
Zeon did not particularly deny the existence of gods.
Because he knew that Deioden had killed one before.
Even if the god Deioden killed had been nothing more than a hollow shell stripped of divinity and power.
If dragons could cross over, there was no reason gods couldn’t come to Earth as well.
The real issue was why such a being had designated a healer as the Saintess and ordered Johan to secure her.
There was no way a god would give such an order without purpose.
“Hoo…”
Johan let out a sigh.
Every emotion he had harbored until now was contained within it.
His anger toward Zeon.
His fear.
Even his jealousy.
With that single breath, he cast away all those negative emotions.
Only one emotion remained.
Killing intent.
“Now I know for certain. You and I cannot coexist beneath the same sky. If Dongdaemun and I are to survive, then you must die.”
“You realized it rather late. I knew from the moment we first met.”
Zeon smiled.
They were destined to clash long ago.
Yet the reason Zeon had delayed until now was because of Dongdaemun’s hidden strength.
There was no telling how many people in Neo Seoul had already been absorbed into Dongdaemun.
Believers protecting Dongdaemun from the shadows.
If left alone, they would become an endless source of future trouble.
But that issue had now been resolved.
Because while searching for the Saintess, Dongdaemun’s believers had stirred up conflicts throughout Neo Seoul’s districts.
Now that all their identities had been exposed, the believers were no longer objects of fear.
Around Johan stood the Holy Knights and Dongdaemun’s primary fighting forces.
Every single one of them was a core member of Dongdaemun.
If they could eliminate them all here, they could uproot every dark organization deeply embedded within the slums and Neo Seoul.
Shrrrk!
Dozens—hundreds—of sand humans rose behind Zeon.
The Sand Soldiers who would fight alongside him.