Chapter 19
As the world changed and demonic beasts appeared, other races also emerged.
They possessed features completely different from humans, despite seeming similar.
They were an entirely new kind of race, not existing humanity having evolved or changed.
Humans called them other races, for they had appeared out of nowhere.
It was said that some of the other races lived within Neo Seoul. However, Jeon had never seen them.
Originally, quite a lot of them had lived there, but several decades ago, most had been annihilated due to some incident.
The few survivors lived only within Neo Seoul, with entry and exit strictly forbidden. Because of that, Jeon, who had been in the slums, was never given an opportunity to see them.
This was the first time he had seen other races directly.
Pointed ears were the symbol of elves even among other races.
Elves, who had suddenly appeared in this world one day, originally had pure white skin. But under the influence of the environment, they had now turned dark brown.
The elves who had suddenly appeared were holding bows and arrows, and swords were sheathed at their waists.
They had climbed straight up the rock where Deiodeun and Jeon were and discovered the two.
"Humans!"
"Perfect. Let's throw the humans to it as bait. Then it'll be distracted."
"But how?"
"First, we have to survive."
While opinions varied, the elves aimed their bows at Jeon and Deiodeun. Then they threatened them.
"Get down from the rock, humans!"
"Climb down yourselves if you don't want to die."
"Sorry, humans!"
"Move!"
Jeon made a dumbfounded expression at the elves' threats.
It was commonly believed that elves were a noble race.
Not only was their appearance peerless, but they also possessed a cold atmosphere.
Jeon had also harbored a certain fantasy about elves, but it was utterly shattered.
It was then.
Thud! Thud!
Heavy footsteps were heard.
Just from the footsteps, one could tell the creature was enormous.
Urgent expressions appeared on the elves' faces.
"It's close. Hurry up and throw the humans to lure it."
"Damn it! To think it followed us all the way here."
"Hurry up and get down, human!"
The elves drew their bowstrings taut, bending the bows like a full moon.
Instead of answering, Jeon looked at Deiodeun.
Because ever since the elves appeared, Deiodeun's atmosphere had been unusual.
Deiodeun had been indifferent even when ambushed by demonic beasts, even when attacked by scavengers.
Yet for the first time in a while, madness dwelled in his eyes.
Unaware of this, the elves were threatening Deiodeun.
It was as Jeon swallowed dryly at the ominous atmosphere.
One elf who couldn't hold back released the bowstring.
Ssshaak!
An arrow was fired right in front of Deiodeun. But contrary to what the elf had expected, the arrow did not pierce Deiodeun's head.
Before anyone knew it, the arrow was caught in Deiodeun's large hand.
The elf who had fired the arrow flared his eyes wide at the unbelievable sight.
Pssss!
The arrow turned to dust and scattered from Deiodeun's hand.
"What?"
"You insect-like wretches!"
Deiodeun reached out and grabbed the elf's face.
His large hand completely covered the elf's face.
"Urp!"
The elf struggled to pry Deiodeun's hand off. But he was powerless to withstand Deiodeun's monstrous strength.
The other elves who witnessed the scene shouted.
"You!"
"Let go of him, human!"
It was then.
Crunch!
The head of the elf caught in Deiodeun's hand crumbled like a cracker.
Fresh blood and brain matter splattered.
Flesh stuck to the faces of the elves who had tried to save their comrade.
The elves' bodies stiffened at the terrible event that happened in an instant.
Srring!
Deiodeun grasped the crayon he had stuck into the ground.
"You lot are always like that. You think nothing of human lives in order to survive. That's why the world ended up like this."
The darkness around them rippled at the madness he emanated.
"Urk!"
"What?"
The elves, coming to their senses, recoiled in terror.
Never in their lives had they seen a being radiating such monstrous killing intent and madness as Deiodeun.
It was then.
Thud!
Along with the heavy footsteps, the being that had driven the elves to flee here appeared.
It was a giant lizard with a height of five meters and a length from head to tail exceeding fifteen meters.
Two large horns adorned its head, and a mace covered in thorns was attached to the tip of its tail.
Every time the giant lizard moved, a shrrrrk! sound echoed from the black scales covering its entire body.
The elves feared this giant lizard, calling it Megalania.
A red aura enveloped Megalania's entire body.
By human standards, it was a martial-class Awakened.
It was proof that its physical abilities were tremendous.
Its scales possessed tremendous hardness and anti-magic properties, so they could not be wounded by the elves' primary weapons, bows and magic.
It could rightfully be called the elves' natural enemy.
Therefore, when the elves encountered Megalania, they chose to flee. But fleeing was no easy task. Megalania's sense of smell was highly developed, and it would track them to the end.
The reason the elves had fled toward the rock where Jeon and Deiodeun were resting was because of Megalania.
Fwwip!
A long, lizard-like tongue flicked from Megalania's mouth.
Its vertically slit eyes were fixed on the elves and humans atop the rock.
Two more prey had appeared. From its perspective, it was as if it had struck gold.
Deiodeun's eyes turned toward Megalania.
"How dare a trifling demonic beast..."
He swung the crayon horizontally.
For a moment, Jeon felt a dizzying sensation as if the world were split in half. The elves felt the same.
What they felt was not an illusion.
Shhhk!
The giant fifteen-meter demonic beast was bisected and collapsed onto the desert.
Neither the scales said to possess tremendous hardness, nor the blue aura that only B-rank or higher demonic beasts possessed, were more than thin sheets of paper before the crayon.
"Good heavens!"
"Insane!"
The elves flared their eyes wide at the unbelievable sight.
Megalania was a B-rank demonic beast.
B-rank demonic beasts are stronger than B-rank Awakened.
There exists a difference in weight class among living beings, and B-rank demonic beasts were usually larger than houses.
Therefore, to hunt a B-rank demonic beast, several B-rank Awakened needed to form a team, or a specialized raid party was required.
The demonic beast treated as a boss in nearly any dungeon was Megalania.
Its defensive power in particular was among the top three of the countless demonic beasts in the desert.
There existed affinities between living beings, and it was the worst possible opponent for elves.
It was no coincidence that Megalania was called the elves' natural enemy.
The sight of such a demonic beast being sliced like a sheet of paper and dying to a single strike from Deiodeun was surreal.
'Just who is this guy?'
Elves who had appeared as if dropped onto this land one day.
Originally, they had lived in densely vegetated areas. Elves were a race that could not survive apart from the forest.
Therefore, when exposed defenselessly to the desert environment, countless elves perished. But the few surviving elves eventually adapted to the desert and were increasing their numbers again.
They called themselves 'Desert Elves'.
The Desert Elves considered humans an inferior race and looked down on them.
That was why they had tried to treat Deiodeun and Jeon as bait for Megalania. Yet the human they had so despised possessed abilities beyond imagination.
Kwahk!
Deiodeun grabbed the neck of the elf who had been lost in thought.
"There seems to be a village near here. Where is it?"
"Kkuurk!"
Kuuuu!
A monstrous momentum was radiating from Deiodeun's entire body.
Even Jeon nearby felt his insides shake to the point he could barely stay conscious. The elves who faced Deiodeun's momentum head-on were in an even more wretched state. In particular, the elf whose neck was caught by Deiodeun was bleeding from his seven orifices.
Deiodeun asked again.
"Where is it? Your village."
"Kurk! Why?"
"Just answer me, uninvited guest!"
The elf whose neck was held clamped his mouth shut.
Because he felt an immense hostility toward elves emanating from the human before his eyes.
Instinctively, he felt he must not reveal the village's location.
Crack!
In an instant, the elf's neck snapped.
Deiodeun had broken it without a moment's hesitation.
Deiodeun tossed the dead elf aside and looked at the other elves.
"Urk!"
"Aaah, a demon!"
The elves who had lost their comrades in an instant collapsed to the ground and pissed themselves.
Jeon, belatedly coming to his senses, tried to stop Deiodeun.
"Wait. Please stop for a moment."
"Shut your mouth, you bastard!"
"No, shouldn't we know why you're doing this? Why the elves..."
Jeon couldn't finish his sentence.
Boom!
Because an explosive sound erupted and his body was sent flying backward.
Deiodeun's fist had struck his abdomen.
Jeon vomited blood and rolled across the sandy ground.
Deiodeun didn't even glance at Jeon and approached the remaining elves.
"Where is your village?"
"Urk! There's no way we'd tell you that..."
"We don't know."
They desperately shook their heads.
Deiodeun looked down at them with eyes filled with madness.
One elf, unable to endure his gaze, involuntarily turned his gaze away.
In that instant, Deiodeun grinned, baring his white teeth.
"It's over there."
His eyes were aimed precisely where the elf's gaze had been directed.
The elf hastily denied it.
"N-no, it isn't."
Whoosh!
Before his words could end, Deiodeun swung the crayon.
"Kraak!"
"Kuk!"
The elves were split in two and perished.
Boom!
Deiodeun, who had killed all the elves in an instant, sent his body flying in the direction where he guessed the village to be.
A sonic boom occurred as his body broke the sound barrier.
"Kurk!"
Jeon barely regained consciousness at the eardrum-shattering sonic boom.
By the time he raised his body, Deiodeun was already so far away that he looked like a tiny dot.
"That old man..."
Jeon rubbed his chest.
Thankfully, it seemed no bones were broken; perhaps Deiodeun had held back.
It was also thanks to the breastplate Kellie had made for him.
He had known that Deiodeun always harbored madness. But he had never seen him fly off the handle to this degree.
"What grudge does he hold against other races?"
No matter how he looked at it, he couldn't help but see this as an act born of grudge.
The remaining elves' corpses were truly gruesome.
It was his first time seeing elves, and it was also his first time seeing elves' corpses.
"Damn it!"
His stomach churned.
He was still not used to seeing such corpses.
Jeon suppressed his nausea with effort and looked in the direction Deiodeun had disappeared.
"That crazy old bastard."
He broke into a sprint across the sand.
Crossing the desert in the middle of the night was a mad act staking one's life, but now was not the time to nitpick.
Jeon chased after Deiodeun.