Chapter 80

Zeon tracked Goran.

Goran left almost no traces, but he hadn’t concealed them perfectly either.

Movement within a city inevitably leaves marks.

Walls, floors, people’s reactions, their gazes—everything becomes a clue from which the situation can be inferred.

Zeon was exceptionally skilled at this kind of tracking.

With just a quick sweep of his surroundings, he could deduce the path Goran had taken.

The problem was the people interfering with his pursuit.

Boom!

A passerby next to Zeon suddenly exploded without any warning.

Fortunately, Zeon avoided the blast at the last moment and suffered no harm. But everyone nearby was caught in the explosion and lost their lives.

“Ugh…! Ugh…!”

“It hurts!”

Even those who barely survived cried and screamed in terror.

The street instantly turned into chaos, and people scattered in all directions like a swarm of locusts.

The suicide attacks targeting Zeon continued one after another.

What made them different from typical suicide bombings was that the victims had no will of their own.

Ordinarily, suicide attackers act by their own choice. But those who exploded now died without even realizing they had become bombs.

Cruelly, Goran had turned the slum residents into explosives. The victims didn’t even know they had been chosen as bombs.

Boom!

Another explosion erupted.

This time, two people nearby exploded simultaneously.

People around them were killed or injured, and the street descended further into chaos.

The more Zeon pursued Goran, the greater the damage became.

Only then did Zeon understand why people feared Goran.

“It’s because of that bastard.”

“Explosions are happening wherever he goes.”

“You damn bastard!”

Those who suffered turned their anger toward Zeon.

They believed he was the cause.

These were suicide attacks using ordinary civilians, not even Awakened.

Even if he survived without being caught in the blast, the guilt would be unavoidable.

Goran knew exactly how to control people through fear—and how to strike his opponent where it hurt most.

In this way, he was turning Zeon into a public enemy.

In some ways, it was even more terrifying than a direct attack.

If people around you are harmed or killed because of you, anyone would inevitably hesitate.

Goran understood human psychology better than anyone—and exploited it flawlessly.

He was the worst kind of opponent to face.

Rumors that Zeon was chasing Goran had already spread throughout all of Sinchon. Goran’s side had deliberately leaked the information.

It was a message.

A message Goran sent to the slum residents:

If you don’t stop Zeon, you will die.

So you kill Zeon.

His message reached the slum residents clearly.

“You bastard!”

“How dare you chase Lord Goran?!”

“Die!”

An overwhelming hostility concentrated on Zeon.

Even for Zeon, this was a first.

In the desert, everything had been clear.

Enemies and allies were distinctly separated.

But not here.

People moved according to their own interests.

Justice or revenge meant nothing to them.

What mattered most was their immediate safety and benefit—and so they attacked Zeon.

But their attacks didn’t work on him.

Stones or knives thrown by ordinary people couldn’t possibly injure Zeon.

The real problem was the ones who approached and then exploded.

Up until the very moment of death, they had no idea they had become human bombs.

For a long time, Goran had steadily turned slum residents into human bombs as a means of protecting himself.

Though the mana consumption was so severe that he couldn’t create many at once, he had still placed enough of them throughout the streets to die for him.

Zeon’s eyes swept over the people approaching him.

After being targeted several times, he could now distinguish whether someone was a human bomb just by observing their condition.

“You bastard! You dare go after Lord Goran—!”

A middle-aged man, eyes bloodshot, shouted loudly.

Zeon knew it was a precursor to an explosion. But the man himself had no idea.

It might not work, but…

Zeon lunged toward him.

By the time the man realized what was happening, Zeon’s palm had already covered his face.

“What are you—”

“I’m saving your life. Stay still.”

Thoom!

In that instant, Zeon injected his mana through the man’s face.

Using the gauntlet of blazing heat, he forced fire energy into the man’s body.

The condensed heat tore through his insides in an instant, burning away the impurities within him.

Those impurities were the mana and blood Goran had planted inside him.

Zeon had removed the trigger embedded in the man’s body.

“Ugh!”

The man’s legs gave out, and he collapsed.

He didn’t even realize Zeon had saved him—and Zeon felt no need to explain.

Right now, tracking Goran was more urgent.

He couldn’t afford to give Goran any time to prepare.

Zeon increased his speed.

He left no chance for would-be suicide bombers to approach him.

After a relentless pursuit, Zeon arrived at a small warehouse on the outskirts of Sinchon.

When he opened the door and stepped inside, he found an entrance leading underground.

Zeon muttered,

“Shady bastards always end up setting up their bases underground.”

Of course, he understood why.

If it were him, he’d do the same.

Without hesitation, Zeon headed underground.

Since he had already experienced going underground before, there wasn’t even a hint of hesitation in Zeon’s movements.

The narrow sewer was filled with a foul stench.

It was so terrible that most people would lose consciousness the moment they smelled it. But Zeon ran through the sewer without even frowning once.

***

“He’s tracking us.”

At Ava’s words, Goran slightly frowned.

“He’s persistent. I didn’t expect him to follow us all the way here.”

He had sent human bombs several times to warn him.

That he was dangerous, and that Zeon shouldn’t cross the line any further.

Yet Zeon was chasing him at a terrifying speed, as if mocking those warnings.

Goran looked back at the path he had taken.

“I never thought it would come to this because of a single man.”

“He’s strong.”

“I know. At least B-rank… maybe even A-rank or higher.”

“Could he be someone sent by Neo Seoul?”

“That’s possible.”

Neo Seoul did not want the forces in the slums to grow beyond a certain level.

That was why it suppressed them through various means.

Whenever a new Awakened appeared in the slums, they would show up like ghosts and scout them—that was part of the same strategy.

Zeon had appeared as if he had fallen straight from the sky.

There was no information about him at all.

That was what made him suspicious as someone sent by Neo Seoul.

Goran clenched his teeth.

If Zeon truly had been sent by Neo Seoul to weaken him, then he would have to prepare for war. But for now, eliminating Zeon came first.

The reason Goran had deliberately come to this filthy, foul-smelling sewer wasn’t because he feared Zeon.

It was because there was a way here to deal with him without using his own forces or power.

Goran asked Ava,

“Do you know the phrase ‘he who tied the knot must untie it’?”

“I’ve never heard it before.”

“Heh. I learned it recently. It’s a phrase from before the Great Cataclysm. It means the one who caused the problem should resolve it.”

“I see.”

Ava smiled faintly.

Only then did she realize why Goran had come here.

Goran said,

“He’s going to deeply regret daring to defy me.”

“As expected of you, boss.”

“In these streets, there isn’t a single person who can defy me and survive. My goal isn’t just to become the ruler of Sinchon. I’ll unify all the slums, and one day, I’ll cross those walls and become the ruler of Neo Seoul. That is my mission—my destiny.”

“I’ll follow you until that day.”

“Let’s go.”

“Yes!”

The two disappeared into the darkness of the sewer.

A long while after they were gone, Zeon appeared.

He stopped where they had been standing and briefly scanned his surroundings.

“This definitely feels like that.”

Zeon wasn’t a fool.

He had already figured out Goran’s intention.

Being lured deeper and deeper into the sewer like this—failing to notice would have been stranger.

Even though he understood Goran’s plan, Zeon had no intention of turning back.

He kept moving forward.

At some point, the air in the sewer changed.

The damp sensation beneath his feet disappeared, replaced by soft sand.

It seemed he had left the flowing water area.

Zeon reached down and touched the sand.

Soft grains slipping through his fingers.

A faint smile formed on his lips.

“As expected… there’s sand in the deeper parts.”

Neo Seoul had been built on sand.

Naturally, sand would flow into the waterways as well.

The sand carried by the water had no choice but to settle in places this deep.

Walking across the sand, Zeon finally reached his destination.

Goran and Ava were there.

The problem was—they weren’t the only ones waiting for him.

Along with a man whose skin was rough like a crocodile’s, many others had gathered in the open space.

Zeon instantly recognized who they were.

“So, crocodiles.”

Just as expected, this place was a crocodile den.

The rough-skinned man was Croker, the leader of the crocodiles.

Croker, however, was glaring at Goran instead of Zeon.

“I’m pretty sure I asked you to deal with him.”

“You did.”

“Then why did you bring him here?”

“Heh. He’s stronger than I expected. Too much for me to handle.”

Goran grinned, showing his white teeth.

In contrast, Croker’s face hardened like stone.

If they were going to deal with Zeon themselves, there was no need to ask Goran for help.

They had used Goran to avoid unnecessary losses—but instead, he had brought disaster right to their doorstep.

This place was one of the most important among their dens.

If it fell, the crocodiles living in the sewer would suffer a huge blow.

Even knowing that, Goran had lured Zeon here.

Goran spoke calmly,

“Let’s help each other out and live together. We’re in a symbiotic relationship anyway.”

“You son of a—”

“Calm down. Our enemy is him.”

Goran pointed at Zeon.

Having already fought him, he knew exactly how strong Zeon was.

In the end, Croker had no choice but to let go of Goran’s collar.

He could vent his anger later.

Right now, dealing with the intruder Zeon came first.

Looking at Zeon, Croker said,

“To think you’d blow things up this much over a single mana generator. You’re something else.”

“Then why get greedy over my stuff? You could’ve just found something else.”

“If we could’ve, we wouldn’t have gotten greedy.”

“That just means you lack ability.”

“Let’s see if you can keep talking like that in a moment.”

Croker stomped toward Zeon.

The crocodiles followed behind him.

Goran watched the scene and laughed.

“Heh… this is finally the picture I wanted.”

His eyes gleamed with madness.

He had been eyeing this place for a long time.

Croker may have tried to keep it a secret, but Goran had already figured it out.

“Heh… fight. Fight and if you both die, even better.”