Chapter 352
Zeon firmly refused to negotiate with Johan.
They could have each taken a step back through a suitable compromise. Then they could have maintained a moderate peace and lived with moderate comfort.
But Zeon knew very well that peace obtained that way would never last long.
This was not a fight Zeon had started.
He wasn’t the one who initiated it.
It was Johan and Dongdaemun who caused all of this.
If so, then they were the ones who had to bear responsibility for this fight.
Not some vague conclusion, but a clear responsibility anyone could accept.
In this era, where if you didn’t kill others, you yourself died, responsibility wasn’t anything complicated.
It was simply one’s life.
There was no way they could stir up something this massive and bear no consequences.
Johan bit his lip until it bled as he spoke.
“So you really intend to see this through to the end? You won’t come out unharmed either.”
“Probably not.”
“And you’re saying you don’t care?”
“When you fight, flesh tears, muscles rupture, bones break, blood splatters……. Isn’t that only natural?”
Now, it was difficult for him to suffer serious injuries, but during the early days of his awakening, Zeon had wandered daily between life and death.
Not a single creature he faced in the desert had been weaker than him.
Every day, he suffered terrible injuries and recovered from them over and over again.
If not for his super regeneration ability, Zeon would have died countless times already.
To Zeon, getting hurt and suffering pain wasn’t a problem.
He was far too accustomed to it.
To him, battle was exactly that.
Injuring yourself while subduing or killing the opponent.
Johan, however, was different.
After building his own kingdom in Dongdaemun, there had never once been a situation where he fought personally.
There were countless people willing to fight for him, so there was no reason for him to fight directly like some barbarian.
Naturally, unlike Zeon, he had never shed blood or wandered at death’s doorstep.
That was why, now that all the shields protecting him had disappeared, he couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
He still had subordinates remaining.
Joshua, his closest aide, was still alive, and some of Dongdaemun’s elites also remained. But it was impossible for them to stop Zeon.
Even the finest elites like the Holy Knights, Inquisitors, and Dark Saints had all been swept away. Thinking the remaining forces could deal with Zeon was nothing more than a delusion.
As though his throat were dry, Johan licked his lips with his tongue and spoke.
“So you really mean to take this all the way?”
“Wasn’t that why you invaded Sinchon in the first place?”
“Hah! You truly are Satan. A being who denies God’s providence and drags everyone into the abyss of hell. Because of you, the people of Sinchon won’t escape the curse.”
“You sure talk a lot. Why drag things out with pointless words now?”
“Fine! Since it’s come to this, let’s see this through to the end, Zeon!”
Johan cast aside his hesitation.
Countless people were watching him.
If he retreated today, Johan’s dignity would fall to the ground, and the authority of the church would plummet as well.
If that happened, no one would fear Dongdaemun anymore.
Johan knew better than anyone how pitiful and miserable the end of a religious group that had lost both respect and fear would be.
Johan walked toward Zeon.
There was no longer any trace of fear or hesitation in his eyes. Once he resolved himself to death, peace instead settled in his heart.
His opponent was a Sand Mage.
As everyone had seen, he possessed overwhelmingly fraudulent abilities. But Johan’s powers were nothing to scoff at either.
Johan cast every kind of buff upon himself.
His calcified bones hardened like steel, and his lifeless muscles regained elasticity.
Crack!
His bent back straightened, and his shoulders broadened.
Wrinkles vanished, and a fierce radiance burst forth from his once-clouded eyes.
In an instant, it was as though he had reversed several decades of time and regained his youth.
His muscles brimmed with tremendous power like a volcano on the verge of eruption, and terrifying energy swirled through his body, searching for somewhere to burst out.
In exchange for defying the natural order, he obtained immense power. But the price he had to pay was equally enormous.
His lifespan had been drastically reduced.
Zeon was an existence he could barely contend with only by consuming his own life force.
Johan decided not to think about what came after.
After all, if he lost to Zeon, there would be no future for him anyway.
Whether he won or lost, everything had to end here.
Johan walked toward Zeon.
The trembling in his eyes and the tiny spasms had vanished.
A halo shone around Johan as he walked with half-lidded eyes. It was a phenomenon caused by the aura overflowing from inside his body. But to ordinary people, it simply looked holy.
Johan muttered,
“God shall be with me. Divine Judgment!”
Flash!
At that moment, a beam of light descended from the clear sky.
The place the light targeted was precisely above Zeon’s head.
Boom!
Zeon narrowly dodged the beam.
A bottomless hole was blasted into the spot where the light struck.
Its power was truly terrifying.
Johan quietly extended his hand and pointed at Zeon. Another beam of light immediately descended from the sky.
At that moment, Zeon spread a wall of sand above himself to block the beam.
Boom!
With a thunderous explosion, Zeon’s body was thrown backward.
The sand struck by the beam was scorched pitch-black and turned to ash.
If the sand barrier hadn’t bought him time, Zeon would have suffered serious damage.
Johan pointed at Zeon once again.
Every time he did, light fell from the heavens.
“This is God’s wrath, Satan!”
Johan’s voice echoed through the streets.
“God’s wrath, my ass.”
Zeon sneered and waved his hand. The sand on the ground transformed into snakes and attacked Johan.
It was one of his skills—Sand Viper.
Dozens of sand serpents opened their mouths to bite Johan apart. But the Sand Vipers never managed to sink their fangs into him.
Fwoosh!
Just before the Sand Vipers bit him, holy light burst forth from Johan’s body.
The sacred light instantly annihilated the Sand Vipers before surging toward Zeon.
“Kuugh!”
The moment the light touched his hand, Zeon felt excruciating pain.
His skin burned as though scorched by flames, and pus oozed out. Had he been exposed to the light a little longer, even his muscles would have been burned away. The light carried an intense heat.
As Johan approached Zeon, he spoke.
“Do you understand now? This is proof that God truly exists. This light was created from divine power. It’s something mere humans cannot possibly resist.”
“Divine power, my ass.”
“You still deny God? Divine Judgment!”
At that moment, light descended from the sky again.
Zeon used Sand Step to evade the light.
Boom!
With a deafening explosion, another deep crater was carved into the ground.
It truly looked as though God himself was attacking Zeon from the heavens with beams of light.
But Zeon knew.
This wasn’t God’s wrath or attack.
His gaze had been fixed on Johan’s neck this entire time.
More precisely, on the cross hanging around Johan’s neck.
Every time Johan gestured or spoke, the cross flashed brilliantly.
‘An item.’
It was Zeon’s first time seeing an item shaped like a cross. But the form didn’t matter.
What mattered was that the cross responded to Johan’s will and attacked Zeon.
Boom! KABOOOM! BOOM!
Beams of light relentlessly hammered the places where Zeon stood.
Under the nonstop barrage, with not even a moment to catch his breath, Zeon had no choice but to keep moving constantly. But avoiding the beams forever was impossible.
BOOM!
“Kuugh!”
In the end, Zeon was struck head-on by one of the beams.
He was blasted back dozens of meters before crashing into a wall. The impact caused the wall to collapse, burying him beneath the rubble.
Johan spread both arms toward the people of the slums and declared,
“Do you see? This is God’s authority. No one can dare escape God’s wrath. Believe in God. Believe in me. Upon those who do not believe in me, divine judgment shall descend.”
“Ahh!”
“Does God truly exist?”
At Johan’s words, the people of the slums trembled.
To their eyes, the miracles Johan displayed appeared to be the authority of God itself.
It was then—
“This is not God’s wrath. Nor is it God’s power.”
Zeon said as he pushed aside the rubble covering his entire body and emerged.
Fury rose on Johan’s face.
“You unbeliever…….”
“God’s wrath is not something this pathetic. God’s power is not this feeble either. And God would never descend upon such a pitiful human.”
His burnt, ragged hair quickly regained its sheen, and the burned portions of his body had already returned to normal.
It was thanks to the authority of super regeneration.
Zeon was a Sand Mage, but thanks to the Gauntlet of Superheat, he could freely use flame skills, and he also possessed the authority of super regeneration.
Johan was the same.
He was originally a buffer, yet by borrowing the power of the cross-shaped item, he could use mysterious offensive skills.
Johan was not a god.
Nor was he communicating with one.
He was merely an awakened human using the power of an unidentified item.
Just another human like himself.
And Zeon had not the slightest intention of losing to another human.
Zeon summoned Sand Soldiers.
Dozens of Sand Soldiers gathered around him as though escorting him.
The moment Johan saw them, he shouted,
“Divine Judgment!”
Flash!
Once again, a beam of light descended from the sky.
But this time, Zeon didn’t dodge miserably like before.
The beam exploded downward.
Yet Zeon remained perfectly unharmed.
Because the beam had struck a Sand Soldier standing beside him instead.
The Sand Soldier hit by the beam vanished without leaving even a trace, but thanks to it, Zeon remained safe.
“Damn it! Divine Judgment!”
Johan screamed and called down another beam of light. But once again, it struck a nearby Sand Soldier instead of Zeon.
Johan’s eyes shook violently.
Because he couldn’t understand the phenomenon unfolding before him.
A cold smile appeared on Zeon’s lips.
If a god were truly attacking Zeon, it would never be fooled by such a simple trick.
The fact that it couldn’t even distinguish between Zeon and the Sand Soldiers and bombarded indiscriminately was proof enough that Johan’s attack was not divine authority.
Johan unleashed Divine Judgment repeatedly.
BOOM! BOOM! KABOOOM!
Light flashed and explosions erupted.
The Sand Soldiers were continuously blown apart, yet the actual target, Zeon, remained completely unaffected.
The Sand Soldiers acted like lightning rods, protecting Zeon.
Thanks to them, Zeon stood before Johan without so much as a scratch.
They were now close enough to feel each other’s breathing.
Even the slightest movement of an eyebrow and every breath was clearly perceptible.
Zeon saw Johan trembling.
His eyes shook wildly, and his heart pounded violently, causing his breathing to become ragged.
Had he endured countless brutal experiences and carved his way through life like Zeon had, he would never reveal such agitation simply because things weren’t going his way.
Johan’s reactions revealed just how protected he had been, like a flower raised inside a greenhouse.
Zeon, on the other hand, was a wild weed that had grown amidst every kind of storm in the harsh desert.
Johan couldn’t compare to him.
Both Johan and Zeon understood that difference.
That was why Johan felt intimidated and exposed his emotions before Zeon.
A smile spread across Zeon’s lips.
It was a smile as cold and chilling as ice.
The moment Johan saw it, a dreadful chill ran through his entire body.
“If you truly heard God’s voice, if you truly wield God’s authority, then try surviving this.”
“What?”
“Sand Mixer!”
At that moment, the sand piled beneath Johan’s feet began spinning at terrifying speed.
The sand scattered throughout the streets was sucked inward, swelling into an enormous mass.
“N-No!”
KRAAAAAANG!
Johan’s desperate scream was swallowed by the violently rotating sand.