Chapter 28
Vreeeee!
Jeon was reflected in the eyes of the Queen Bee as she flapped her wings.
The Queen Bee knew.
That the being who had inflicted serious damage on her swarm was Jeon.
The Queen Bee was a demonic beast, but she possessed intelligence close to that of a human.
Because of that, rather than attacking recklessly like Goduwon, she was cautiously probing him.
Jeon thought it was fascinating.
Because even when facing the Queen Bee, a massive demonic beast, he didn't feel much fear.
Although he hadn't been Awakened long, he had fought countless demonic beasts.
The demonic beasts he had fought thus far were in no way inferior to the Queen Bee.
Rather, if one considered only the danger level of an individual, there were some that even surpassed the Queen Bee.
What was frightening about the Queen Bee was when she commanded an incalculable number of bomb bees.
Now that she had lost most of her subordinates, she wasn't that dangerous.
It wasn't that Jeon judged her to be so out of arrogance.
Right now, Jeon was calmer than anyone.
Skills were, in short, the blossoming of the talents that an Awakened possessed.
They evolved when conditions, timing, and one's own effort and intuition achieved harmony.
The early Awakened had all realized and developed their skills in that manner.
But as time passed and experience accumulated, an efficient method of developing skills was created.
A sort of formula had been created.
Most Awakened followed this method. Because there was no waste.
But this method had a great flaw.
Namely, because they followed a predetermined formula, the breadth of their thinking was limited.
Because they believed the formula was the most efficient method, there was no reason to deliberately explore other ways.
But Jeon was different.
He was the only Awakened who commanded sand.
It was a path no one had ever walked.
Therefore, he had to think desperately and find the optimal growth method himself.
Thanks to such effort and contemplation, Jeon had obtained a cold composure that did not waver in any situation.
Of course, Deiodeun's hands-off approach under the guise of instruction had also played its part.
'I hold the advantage in terms of compatibility.'
The problem was how to safely rescue Hareu, who was hanging from the Queen Bee's abdomen.
Even if he killed the Queen Bee, it would be meaningless if he couldn't save her.
This was a handicap for Jeon.
He drew a picture in his head.
The moment the picture of rescuing Hareu was completed, the Queen Bee could endure no longer and attacked.
Swish!
The Queen Bee's massive body charged at Jeon at near-sonic speed.
In an instant, Jeon erected a sand wall.
It was higher and thicker than any he had deployed before.
Even for the Queen Bee, colliding with a sand wall of this thickness would clearly deliver no small shock.
Yet no sound of impact was heard.
Because just before colliding with the sand wall, the Queen Bee changed her trajectory as if she had anticipated it.
The Queen Bee performed an emergency stop and then shot straight up.
Shwoong!
The Queen Bee, looking down at Jeon from high in the air, dove straight down.
The first attack had been a feint; this was her true aim.
However, Jeon was not flustered.
Because this too fell within the scope of his prediction.
"Chya!"
Kwa-kwa-kwak!
The sand near Jeon's feet condensed and was fired at the Queen Bee.
It was the Sand Blaster, firing sand with high pressure.
Pow-pow-pow!
The Sand Blaster scored consecutive hits on the Queen Bee's body.
Each time, the Queen Bee's massive torso shook violently.
The power of each individual Sand Blaster was not that great.
But it was sufficient to slightly break the Queen Bee's balance.
Because of that, the Queen Bee's flight speed slowed a little.
In the meantime, Jeon used Sand Step to slightly deviate from the Queen Bee's flight path.
Shwoong!
The Queen Bee brushed past him by a hair's breadth.
At that moment, Jeon fired a Sand Missile.
Boom!
Along with an explosion, the Sand Missile struck the egg to which Hareu was clinging.
From the impact, the egg and Hareu fell simultaneously.
'Alright!'
Jeon smiled.
The electrifying thrill of the picture he had drawn in his head becoming reality made him tremble.
But it was too early to rejoice.
Because his mana was completely depleted.
It was the price of using skills incessantly without rest.
Kiiii!
The Queen Bee, robbed of her egg and Hareu, let out a bizarre shriek.
The Queen Bee flew back to retake the egg and Hareu.
There was none of the slyness from before. Her haste had blown away her reason.
Jeon muttered quietly.
"Sand Mixer!"
Light burst from the Tears of Elura hanging around his neck, instantly refilling his depleted mana.
At that moment, an enormous amount of sand surged up and enveloped the Queen Bee. And then it rotated at high speed.
Kwaaaaah!
The high-speed rotating sand gnawed away at the Queen Bee.
Kieeee!
The Queen Bee screamed and struggled to escape the Sand Mixer.
But Jeon skillfully controlled the Sand Mixer, perfectly trapping the Queen Bee.
The Queen Bee's wings were torn off by the sand rotating at high speed, and her shell broke away.
As the screams continued, the surviving bomb bees flew to save the Queen Bee.
Some attacked Jeon, and the rest dove into the sand where the Queen Bee was trapped.
At that moment, Goduwon, coming to his senses, fired arrows to protect Jeon.
Boom-boom-boom!
Bomb bees kept exploding around Jeon.
Thanks to that, Jeon could concentrate and maintain the Sand Mixer.
Explosions rang out continuously from within the sand.
It was the sound of the bomb bees ground up in the Sand Mixer exploding.
The explosions dealt great damage to the already-weakened Queen Bee as well.
The loyalty of the bomb bees that had plunged in to save her was instead wounding her.
Crack!
Finally, a large hole was drilled into the Queen Bee's head.
The sand that dug into the hole gnawed at her brain and internal organs.
Before long, the high-speed rotating sand was dyed crimson with blood.
"Okay! That's enough."
At that moment, Jeon stopped the skill.
Though he spoke with feigned composure, his face was deathly pale.
Because both his mental strength and mana were completely exhausted.
Thud!
When the Sand Mixer stopped, the Queen Bee crashed to the ground.
The Queen Bee's condition was truly miserable.
Her head was blown away and no longer visible, and marks of being ground by sand were clearly etched all over her body.
The wings that had enabled high-speed flight had vanished without a trace.
It was a shabby end unfitting for the demonic beast that had dominated the Black Forest for so long.
"Hareu!"
As the threat disappeared, Goduwon ran to his daughter.
"Dad?"
Hareu looked at Goduwon while hugging the egg.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine!"
Hareu answered with difficulty.
Goduwon's gaze turned to the egg she was holding in her arms.
"Why are you holding the Queen Bee's egg? Throw it away quickly."
"This isn't an egg."
"What?"
"It's not an egg laid by the Queen Bee."
"How do you know that?"
"I just know."
"What?"
"This child called me."
"The egg called you?"
"Yeah!"
Hareu nodded.
When she was playing in front of the house, she had felt an intense pull.
The egg was calling her.
Drawn by the call, she walked until before she knew it, she was in front of the Queen Bee.
While coming here, the bomb bees had attacked, but for some reason, she was unharmed.
Because the egg had protected her.
Goduwon looked at the egg Hareu was holding with a renewed expression.
A faint blue light was emanating from the egg.
It had the exact same shape as an egg, but there was no shell. It was as if blue light had been compressed into a sphere.
A certain being came to Goduwon's mind.
"Could it be a Spirit Egg?"
His wife had told him so.
That this land was so damaged that spirits could not live in it, and so spirits did not exist.
And yet she had wished that a spirit would be born someday.
Goduwon asked out of curiosity.
"How are spirits born?"
"The winds of nature, and the will to exist on its own. If you add the earnest wish of humans, or elves, a spirit is born somewhere. A primordial spirit exists in egg form, grows by feeding on the earnest wishes of life, and at some point breaks its shell and emerges."
Therefore, it was clear that the Spirit Egg Hareu was holding had been born inside the Queen Bee's egg chamber on its own.
Because it had judged that was advantageous for survival.
And it had called Hareu.
'It's because Hareu is a half-elf.'
It was said that elves were born with strong spirit affinity.
With no other elves around, it was clear it had called Hareu, a half-elf.
"Yes! This is definitely a Spirit Egg."
"A Spirit Egg? Then you mean a spirit will be born from inside this?"
Jeon looked at it with a fascinated expression.
It was a world dominated by the Awakened.
Even if spirits were added to that, it wasn't strange at all.
But it was the first time Jeon had even heard the word "spirit."
Hareu held out the Spirit Egg to Jeon without any sign of wariness.
"Do you want to try touching it?"
"Is that okay?"
"Yeah!"
Jeon cautiously brought his hand to the Spirit Egg.
In that instant, a strange warmth was felt in his palm.
The warmth traveled up his hand to his heart.
"Ungh!"
Jeon pulled his hand away at the bizarre feeling. Then Hareu smiled and said.
"It says thank you."
"Who? The egg?"
"Yes!"
"You can hear the egg's voice?"
"Yes! It said it was born in the Queen Bee's nest and has been waiting a long time for someone who would listen to its voice."
"So that was you."
"Yes! It said it called out to me in a hurry because it felt there wouldn't be another chance once you left."
"Hmm!"
Hareu answered with an innocent expression.
He didn't think she was lying.
Then Goduwon took Jeon's hand.
"I am truly grateful! Thanks to you, I saved my daughter, and the Black Forest can be revived as well. It's all thanks to you. I don't know how to repay this kindness."
"It's fine. This is enough."
Jeon answered while looking at the Tears of Elura hanging around his neck.
The more he looked at it, the more amazing the item was.
An item that completely restored mana once a day.
Thanks to it, he could worry less about mana.
This alone was sufficient profit.
"Let's get out now. If I can't get back by morning, Deiodeun will abandon me and leave."
"Wouldn't it be better to just stay here? It would be a hundred times better than following Deiodeun. Whether you know it or not, traveling the path Deiodeun intends to take is no different from suicide."
"I know."
"Then will you stay here?"
"I'm still going to follow him."
"Why on earth?"
"I just feel like doing it."
Jeon smiled.
For now, he had no choice but to say it like that.
Goduwon looked at Jeon with a pitiful gaze for a moment. But he didn't try to persuade him any longer.
Though he coveted Jeon's abilities, the bomb bee swarm—the greatest threat—had been eliminated, so he didn't need him anymore.
The Black Forest, cleared of bomb bees, was very quiet.
The massive shade created by the charred trees looked unlike the scenery of this world.
The mere fact that there was space to avoid the sunlight gave the Black Forest value.
But this was not a place for Jeon.
For him, the desert sand under the blazing sun was more fitting.
As they exited the Black Forest, Deiodeun welcomed him.
"You're late, dumbass!"
'You old dog!'
Jeon responded with a smile.