Chapter 353

“Th-that…….”

“Lord Johan is inside the sand…….”

The forces from Dongdaemun stared in horror at the violently spinning sand.

Johan had been completely buried within it, not even visible anymore.

“Hurry! We have to save Lord Johan.”

“We can’t let Lord Johan die.”

Several believers rushed into the raging vortex of sand to save Johan. But no matter how long they waited, none of them came back out.

The believers turned toward Joshua.

Among those remaining, Joshua was the strongest.

Normally, Joshua would have leapt into the sand without hesitation to save Johan. But now, he was hesitating.

He had lived believing Johan was a god.

Yet, at this very moment, doubt arose within his faith.

A sudden thought crossed his mind.

‘If he truly is a being chosen by God, shouldn’t he survive something like this?’

That was why Joshua hesitated to throw himself into the sand to save Johan.

KRAAAAAANG!

Even at that moment, the sand continued spinning at a ferocious speed.

Just watching it from afar made one’s hairs stand on end.

Joshua felt the same.

No matter how fast he was, even he had no confidence he could enter that violently rotating sand and return alive.

In a situation like this, there was only one solution.

Eliminate Zeon—the one responsible for creating this phenomenon.

If Zeon died, the sand would lose cohesion and scatter.

Joshua’s gaze turned toward Zeon.

Dozens of Sand Soldiers stood deployed around him.

Breaking through all those Sand Soldiers and reaching Zeon was impossible even for Joshua.

‘A monster!’

Joshua thought Zeon was even more terrifying than an S-rank magical beast.

Because he was smarter and more creative than one.

Above all, the cold rationality with which he grasped the flow of battle was terrifying.

‘We should never have made an enemy of him in the first place.’

Not once had they ever benefited from Chensing with Zeon.

Zeon always controlled the situation and shaped the environment in ways favorable to himself.

Just like now.

He had first eliminated the Holy Knights, Inquisitors, and Dark Saints, forcing Johan himself to step forward.

Everything had proceeded exactly as Zeon intended.

And the situation afterward would likely be the same.

Though Joshua couldn’t know Zeon’s exact thoughts, he was certain events would continue unfolding according to Zeon’s plan.

Joshua had no confidence he could face someone like that.

“Sir Joshua!”

“We can’t just stand here…….”

Unaware of Joshua’s inner thoughts, the awakened from Dongdaemun urged him onward, telling him to save Johan quickly.

But Joshua ignored them.

Then—

Shuuuuu!

The sand, which had been rotating so violently, suddenly stopped as if it had all been a lie.

The sand dispersed like mist in every direction, revealing Johan trapped inside.

Johan’s appearance was utterly horrific.

Both legs were gone below the knees, and both arms had been ground away without a trace.

Lying on the ground, he could only gasp weakly.

“Haa…! Haa…!”

His mind had been numbed by extreme terror and pain, to the point he couldn’t even comprehend what state he was in.

At that moment, Zeon knelt on one knee and met his gaze.

“Zi…… on!”

Johan called Zeon’s name in a voice torn apart and broken.

Instead of answering, Zeon reached out and tore the cross from Johan’s neck.

Crackle!

As though rejecting Zeon’s touch, sparks burst from the cross. But Zeon paid no attention and gripped it tightly.

Flash!

At that instant, a beam of light descended from the sky.

It was the same Divine Judgment Johan had used.

But without Johan acting as both medium and amplifier, its power was incomparably weaker.

BOOM!

A Sand Soldier took the hit in Zeon’s place and remained perfectly fine.

Looking at the cross, Zeon muttered,

“So you got it from a dungeon.”

“Gi…ve it… back. That’s not something you should possess.”

Johan reached out, trying to snatch the cross away. But without arms, he couldn’t take it back.

No matter how exceptional a buffer he was, regenerating completely severed arms and legs was impossible.

Unless he had obtained Remura, the thing he had desperately sought.

In the end, Johan gave up trying to reclaim the cross and stared blankly at the sky.

He was dying.

His heartbeat slowed steadily, and his face became deathly pale from blood loss.

Yet suddenly, vitality flickered across Johan’s face once more.

In a cracked voice, he said,

“I wanted to spread God’s will throughout Neo Seoul, but because of you, it all turned to nothing. You will absolutely regret what happened today.”

“Maybe.”

“The human mind is weak. People need something to believe in and depend on. Today, you destroyed the channel connecting them to Him. The price for that will be unimaginably cruel.”

“You underestimate human potential far too much.”

“And aren’t you overestimating it?”

“I wandered the desert for a long time and met countless beings. Elves, dwarves, beastfolk. All races stronger than humans. Yet none of them rebuilt civilization as quickly as the humans here. Even though the era has changed, they still remain buried in the glory of the past, living only through memories.”

“So what are you trying to say?”

“That humans choose to move forward rather than cling to the past. Even if the future ahead is so dark they can’t see an inch before them. Dongdaemun will be the same after you’re gone. At first, there will be chaos. But they’ll eventually accept the present without you and move toward a new future.”

At Zeon’s words, Johan coughed up blood and screamed,

“D-Don’t make me laugh! Do you think Dongdaemun can survive without me? If Dongdaemun collapses, Neo Seoul won’t survive either.”

“That’s merely your wish.”

“Kuugh! Lies…… Cough!”

CRACK!

At that moment, Zeon crushed the cross in his hand.

At the same time, the light of life lingering in Johan’s eyes vanished.

After vomiting one last mouthful of blood, he never moved again.

That was the end of Johan, ruler of Dongdaemun.

Everyone stared at Johan in disbelief.

“Lord Johan is really dead?”

“No! That can’t be possible.”

They denied Johan’s death.

To them, Johan had been a god.

And gods could not die.

That was why they believed Johan would rise again.

Just as the holy saint of ancient Earth supposedly had.

But the dead could not return to life.

And even if resurrection were possible, Zeon had no intention of allowing it.

Bubble! Bubble!

The sand beneath Johan’s corpse began to boil like molten lava.

Zeon had activated Sand Gehenna.

The lava-like molten sand melted Johan’s body away completely.

He intended to leave not even the slightest possibility of resurrection behind.

It was a truly ruthless measure.

“N-No!”

“Lord Johan…….”

The anguished screams of Dongdaemun’s believers erupted from all around.

Some even cursed Zeon, calling him a demon.

But even while listening to their accusations, Zeon’s expression did not change in the slightest.

Whatever the matter, one had to finish it properly.

Zeon had experienced countless times how doing ten things correctly only to fail at the very end would cause everything to spiral out of control.

That was why he had completely melted away Johan’s corpse.

At that moment, Joshua approached Zeon.

Looking at him with a conflicted gaze, Joshua spoke.

“Did you really have to destroy even Lord Johan’s body?”

BOOM!

At that instant, a Sand Blaster slammed directly into Joshua’s chest.

Without even managing to scream, Joshua tumbled across the ground.

Zeon looked down at the struggling Joshua and said,

“You seem to be misunderstanding something.”

“Kuugh!”

“I wasn’t the one who started this war. Your side brought this fight to me. If I had lost, what do you think would’ve happened to my corpse? Would your side have kindly respected my circumstances and left it untouched? That’s what war is. The victors thoroughly destroy the losers. Did you come to war against me without even that resolve?”

“Even so…….”

“What do you think would’ve happened if I’d left Lord Johan’s corpse intact? You people would’ve used it. Johan would’ve become a martyr in death, and Dongdaemun would’ve united around him as a spiritual pillar once more. I have no desire to allow that situation.”

“That…….”

“Now you understand why I had to erase Johan’s body. Of course, from your perspective, it may seem cruel. But that’s not my concern. As you know, we were at war.”

Zeon’s calm, measured voice was unimaginably terrifying.

Joshua stared at Zeon with eyes filled with fear.

Despite killing Johan and countless others, Zeon himself remained completely unharmed.

It was impossible to believe he was even human.

Joshua cautiously asked,

“What are you planning to do with Dongdaemun?”

“What do you mean? They’ll handle themselves.”

“You mean you won’t interfere with Dongdaemun?”

“Why would I?”

Zeon answered indifferently.

If he had wanted to rule over people, he would have personally governed Sinchon already.

That kind of troublesome responsibility simply wasn’t to his taste.

After staring at Zeon for a moment, Joshua carefully spoke again.

“I’ll take the remaining people and return to Dongdaemun. Will you let us go?”

“Go ahead.”

Zeon opened a path for Joshua.

Joshua led the survivors and departed from Sinchon.

Zeon watched their retreating backs for a long while.

Now that it had lost its leader, Dongdaemun would descend into severe chaos.

Until someone with leadership as powerful as Johan’s appeared, their divisions would never fully heal.

“Huu……”

Zeon let out a quiet sigh.

Suddenly, he felt piercing gazes directed at him.

It was the people of Sinchon’s slums.

Just like the believers of Dongdaemun, fear lingered on the faces of those staring at Zeon.

Until now, to them, Zeon had primarily been a guardian protecting Sinchon from outside forces.

That was why they had blindly supported and followed him.

But the inhuman might Zeon displayed against Johan and Dongdaemun’s awakened had instilled deep terror in them as well.

Seeing their reactions, Zeon smiled bitterly.

But he wasn’t disappointed.

Humans naturally feared beings that wielded unknown power.

Leaving behind the fearful gazes of the people, Zeon headed toward the Crocodile Pit.

“Why hasn’t he arrived yet?”

It had already been quite some time since she sent out the Angel of Salvation.

By now, Johan and Dongdaemun’s elites should have already arrived.

“Don’t tell me something happened?”

A sudden ominous feeling overcame her.

The Johan she knew was not someone who would ignore the Angel of Salvation.

Something had clearly gone wrong.

“Could it be… Zeon?”

The moment she thought of him, an even darker premonition engulfed her.

“Kuugh!”

At that moment, Bakum’s muffled groan snapped her back to reality.

Startled, she turned her head and saw Bakum kneeling on one knee.

Standing before him was, astonishingly, Jetoya.

Jetoya, a D-rank awakened, had defeated Bakum, a C-rank awakened.

Chensi’s eyes widened at the unbelievable result.

Just then, Levin approached Chensi.

“It’s over now, ma’am. You don’t have any cards left to play.”

“Damn it! Once Lord Johan arrives…….”

“Still don’t get it? He’s not coming. There’s no way Brother Zeon would let him.”

“Shut up! Lord Johan is a god. No one can kill a god!”

Chensi screamed as she rejected Levin’s words.

Seeing her fanatical madness, Levin clicked his tongue.

“Tsk! This is exactly why I hate fanatics.”

Levin transformed into a ghostly form and grabbed Chensi.

Chensi immediately tried to use her ability on Levin, attempting to hypnotize him.

But Levin moved far faster than she did.

Crackle!

Purple Lightning struck Chensi directly.

The violet current burned all the way to her bones.