Chapter 358
Grrr!
Zeon stood where the Fire Wolves’ gazes were fixed.
The eyes of the Fire Wolves looking at Zeon were filled with fear.
The Fire Wolves, creatures that seemed incapable of feeling fear, were terrified of Zeon, who was merely a human.
Kim Jinsu and his subordinates wore bewildered expressions at the Fire Wolves’ reaction.
It was something beyond their common sense.
It was impossible for magical beasts to fear humans. At least, they had never once seen such a thing happen.
That was why they were confused.
Because it was happening right before their eyes.
The Fire Wolves were clearly terrified of Zeon.
Whine!
Yelp!
Even though Zeon was just standing still, some of them were already whimpering as if they were about to collapse.
They looked exactly like frightened puppies.
Zeon silently stared at the pack of Fire Wolves.
One particularly large beast caught his eye.
A Fire Wolf twice the size of the others, boasting dark crimson fur. Most distinctive of all was the ear that had been sliced in half.
That creature was the leader of the pack.
Grrr!
The leader let out a low growl, almost as if making excuses, while looking at Zeon.
Zeon spoke while staring at it.
“So it was you. You’ve grown a lot.”
The unusual crimson fur alone made it memorable, but there was no way he could fail to recognize the half-severed ear.
Because the one who had cut that ear was Zeon himself.
When the leader met Zeon’s gaze head-on, it became visibly uneasy.
It turned its head to avoid Zeon’s eyes and trembled violently.
A very long time had passed, but the beast still remembered vividly.
It remembered the moment Zeon mercilessly slaughtered its kin.
Of course, the ones who attacked first had been the Fire Wolves.
To the Fire Wolves, Zeon, walking alone through the desert, had looked like delicious prey. But it did not take long for them to realize what a terrible mistake that was.
Every Fire Wolf that charged at Zeon had been ground into the sand and erased.
Hundreds of them.
The Fire Wolves gathered here now were all the offspring of those slain back then.
They had been spared only because they were too young for Zeon to kill.
Those young wolves had grown into a massive pack, but they still retained the memories of that day vividly.
That was why they became terrified the moment they saw Zeon.
The bus carrying Zeon drove straight into the middle of the Fire Wolves’ territory.
Behind it followed the buggy vehicles carrying the Awakened and the transport trucks driven by the porters.
Normally, the Fire Wolves would have attacked immediately, but instead they stepped aside to both sides, opening a path for the vehicles to pass.
The Awakened and the porters focused on driving with dazed expressions at the unprecedented sight.
Until every vehicle had passed, the Fire Wolves did not display a single hostile action.
Standing atop the bus, Zeon looked at the leader Fire Wolf.
The wind blew softly through its mane.
He thought it looked rather impressive.
Considering the people who would one day pass through this place, it would have been better to wipe out the entire Fire Wolf pack.
But even if he destroyed this pack, another group of Fire Wolves would eventually move in and flourish here.
The most terrifying thing about magical beasts was how insanely fast they reproduced.
Completely exterminating creatures like them was impossible.
Rather than that, it was better for everyone if beasts that had fear of humans engraved into them guarded this place.
At the very least, the Fire Wolves would think twice before attacking humans.
Thus, the convoy carrying Zeon’s group safely passed through the Fire Wolves’ habitat.
“Haha! This is insane. We actually passed through the middle of a monster pack without even fighting.”
“You can laugh? I was holding it in because I thought I was gonna piss myself.”
“One thing’s for sure—we’ll never experience something like this again.”
The Awakened and the porters let out sighs of relief as they chatted excitedly.
Passing through a Fire Wolf pack without even swinging a sword was that thrilling.
Kim Jinsu looked toward the armored bus.
Zeon, who had been standing on the roof, was nowhere to be seen. The moment they cleared the Fire Wolves’ territory, he had gone inside.
“This is unbelievable. Just what the hell did he do to make magical beasts get scared and open the way for him?”
“He’s seriously insane. Completely insane!”
Even his subordinate shook his head in disbelief.
It had been a spine-tingling experience.
And he had a feeling that as long as they traveled with Zeon, they would experience many more moments like this.
That feeling immediately became reality.
After passing the Fire Wolves’ habitat, the next magical beast they encountered was one of the desert tyrants—the Sandworm.
Zeon briefly got off the bus and spoke with Kim Jinsu.
“This area has especially soft sand, so Sandworms like it. The sand particles transmit vibrations very well, so the moment vehicles enter the area, they’ll notice immediately.”
“Then what do we do?”
“We find a path.”
“…Pardon?”
“At first glance, all sand looks the same. But among it are grains that are coarser and carry a special scent. Humans can’t tell much difference, but to Sandworms, the smell feels particularly unpleasant. Whenever there’s sand like that, even Sandworms avoid it and take a detour.”
“How can you distinguish that kind of sand? Ah… I suppose it’s no problem for you, Mr. Zeon. You can detect even the slightest difference in sand.”
“That’s right. Do you see over there?”
Zeon pointed toward an unusually tall sand dune.
“Yes!”
“Do you see the brown sand stretching along that ridge? It should stand out because it’s darker than the surrounding sand.”
“Yes! I think I can see it. It looks like a long stripe.”
“Correct. If you find sand like that, move toward it no matter what. That’s the best way to increase your chances of surviving against Sandworms.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Kim Jinsu thanked Zeon for the new information he had never known before.
To Zeon, it might have seemed trivial, but for ordinary Awakened like Kim Jinsu, it was precious knowledge that increased their odds of survival.
Normally, people did not share this kind of know-how or information so easily.
Guilds and dungeon raid teams kept such secrets to themselves and never leaked them outside.
In Neo Seoul, the reality was that every piece of knowledge and every survival trick had to be learned personally through blood and hardship.
In that sense, Kim Jinsu was lucky.
Because Zeon had shared the information without asking for anything in return.
The First Escort Team moved toward the dune where the brown sand stripe Zeon had mentioned was located.
Rumble!
The wheels of the vehicles churned through the sand noisily.
If Sandworms truly lived here, they should have rushed over the moment they heard the sound of the wheels.
But even as the noise violently disturbed the sand, no Sandworm appeared.
“Maybe there just aren’t any Sandworms here?”
One of the porters cautiously spoke.
Right then—
Fwoosh!
In the far distance, sand suddenly erupted into the air like a fountain.
A gigantic maw burst forth from beneath the sand.
A Sandworm had emerged.
The creature wriggled for a moment as if sniffing the air.
The Awakened and the porters watched while holding their breath.
After inhaling the fresh air for a while, the Sandworm disappeared beneath the sand once more.
Only long after the Sandworm vanished did the Awakened and the porters finally let out relieved sighs.
“Haa… There really was a Sandworm.”
“Fuck! I almost pissed myself again.”
“Which bastard was it that said there weren’t any Sandworms?”
Zeon’s words had been true.
Sandworms really did exist here.
If they had not moved toward the area with the especially dark brown sand, just as Zeon instructed, they would have run directly into the Sandworm.
Thanks to that, they had conserved their strength by avoiding a battle with the Sandworm, and they had also gained valuable information.
From that point onward, no one doubted Zeon’s words anymore.
Throughout the journey, Kim Jinsu and the Awakened listened carefully to Zeon’s words and acted exactly as he instructed.
After traveling for ten days like that, they finally arrived safely at their destination.
Zero deaths.
Zero injuries.
It was the first time in the history of the First Escort Team.
For the Awakened and the porters, who always suffered injuries of one kind or another whenever they went on an escort mission, there had never been an expedition this comfortable.
They felt endless gratitude toward Zeon for making such a journey possible.
“You’re saying Armored Ants live here?”
“Yes. This place has the perfect environment for them.”
“Hm.”
Kim Jinsu let out a low groan.
Within his field of vision was a massive crack in the earth.
A gigantic fissure that looked as though a god had split the ground with an enormous axe.
It was so deep that sunlight could not reach the bottom, making it appear dark even in broad daylight.
“Hoo… If the crack is this huge, then the number of Armored Ants must be insane too.”
“You understand quickly. At the very least, a massive swarm of several thousand lives down there.”
“Damn… Then this place must be ridiculously dangerous.”
“There’s no need to deal with all several thousand of them. We’ll only hunt the ones stationed around the outskirts.”
“But if their kin get attacked, won’t the ones inside come pouring out too?”
Kim Jinsu’s voice naturally rose in agitation.
“As I said earlier, this place is a special case. Too many of them are living together, so food is always scarce. Even if a small number disappear, the ones inside won’t care.”
“In that case, this is the perfect opportunity for us.”
Kim Jinsu’s eyes gleamed.
He was no fool.
He knew well that a shortage of food led to competition and division.
With thousands of Armored Ants gathered together, it was inevitable that many of them would fail to secure enough food and start viewing even their own kind as rivals.
And now was exactly such a time.
“Then should we head down right away?”
“No. There’s no need for us to go down.”
“…Pardon?”
“We just need to lure them up. That way, hunting them becomes much easier.”
“How?”
“We use bait. Then the Armored Ants on the outskirts will smell it and come rushing to the surface.”
“Don’t tell me…”
The gazes of Kim Jinsu and the Awakened shifted toward the transport vehicle at the rear.
Several monster corpses were loaded onto the large cargo truck.
They were the corpses of the Flame Armadillos they had hunted on the way here.
Zeon had avoided other monsters whenever possible, but the moment they encountered Flame Armadillos, he had immediately ordered them hunted.
Flame Armadillos were D-rank magical beasts.
Standing over five meters tall and covered in scales harder than steel, Flame Armadillos possessed overwhelming defensive power.
When facing enemies, they launched burning scales as projectiles, making them extremely troublesome opponents.
Even after going through the trouble of killing one, Flame Armadillos were not particularly useful.
Only their scales had any real value. The rest of the corpse was worth almost nothing.
Because of that, Awakened usually avoided hunting Flame Armadillos whenever possible.
Yet Zeon had insisted they absolutely had to hunt them.
Not only that, he had even made them transport the otherwise useless corpses all the way here.
Smiling faintly, Zeon answered.
“Yes. Flame Armadillo corpses are the favorite food of Armored Ants. Because of the hard, flame-infused scales, they normally can’t hunt them successfully, which makes them crave them even more desperately.”
“Ah! Then…”
“Yes. If we place the Flame Armadillo corpses near the entrance of the fissure, the Armored Ants will come up on their own.”
“To think there was a method like this… It’s like discovering a whole new world.”
Kim Jinsu and the Awakened could not hide their amazement.
Clapping his hands once, Zeon spoke.
“That’s enough admiring. Let’s get moving.”
“Yes! Understood. Everyone heard him, right? Hurry and unload the Flame Armadillo corpses.”
“Yes, sir!”
The Awakened ran toward the vehicle carrying the Flame Armadillo corpses.
Since each one was over five meters large, their weight was no joke.
All the Awakened had to work together to carry the corpses.
After moving the Flame Armadillo corpses beside one side of the fissure, they held their breath and waited.
Chiiik! Chiiik!
A short while later, a strange noise echoed out, followed by the appearance of a pair of antennae.
An Armored Ant.
The Armored Ant busily waved its antennae around before discovering the Flame Armadillo corpse and releasing pheromones in all directions.
The other Armored Ants sensed the signal and began swarming up from the fissure.
Staring coldly at the Armored Ants, Zeon spoke.
“We need to kill them quickly before they carry away the Flame Armadillo corpses.”
“Understood. Everyone, attack!”
“Yes!”
The Awakened answered and immediately attacked the Armored Ants.
As the ants poured onto the surface, they were cut down one after another by the swords and blades of the Awakened.
But the Awakened alone were not enough to handle all the Armored Ants.
Levin rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward.
“I should help too.”
Crackle!
Levin, having transformed into a ghostly state, unleashed Purple Lightning into the swarm of Armored Ants.
It was the beginning of a massacre.
Brielle muttered while watching Levin rain down Purple Lightning.
“He’s having way too much fun.”
At that moment, Zeon was staring beyond the fissure.
On the other side, atop a rock, he could see someone’s head peeking out.