Episode 49
Jeon exited through the mouth of one of Kaesyu's nine heads.
A gigantic demonic beast fearsome enough to make one's knees buckle lay stretched out long upon the sand.
Its nine heads were strewn in different directions, long tongues hanging out.
There was no sign of life anywhere on Kaesyu.
It was clearly dead.
"So you're telling me I caught this?"
Jeon made an expression of disgust.
He had resorted to a dirty trick rather than a normal method, but either way, it was a gigantic demonic beast he had caught with his own ability.
And at that, a Dragon's Guardian close to S-rank.
There wasn't a single Awakened in Neo Seoul who would have accomplished such a feat.
He wanted to keep basking in the afterglow of victory, but this was not the time to idle about.
Even at this very moment, Deiodeun would be advancing toward the Dragon.
There was no time to hesitate here.
Jeon left the gigantic corpse of Kaesyu behind and moved his feet. Then, the sand covering the floor rose up like dust and followed him.
That sight was just like moths following a flame.
And so, Jeon moved with the sand trailing behind him like a tail.
A-rank was definitely different.
It wasn't merely that the amount of mana he could wield had increased dramatically.
His senses, his dominance over sand, his body's vitality—they had all risen to a degree incomparable to before.
Previously, he had forcibly wrung out his strength to command the sand, but now, it felt as though the sand was struggling with all its might to follow him on its own.
Could one say the master-servant relationship had been reversed?
That was what Jeon was feeling right now.
Jeon suddenly looked ahead.
A terrible darkness obscured his vision. But Jeon could feel them.
The countless Chimeras hiding behind that dark passage.
They might not compare to a Guardian like Kaesyu, but there were still enough of them to pose a threat, waiting with the darkness as their cover.
If it were before, he wouldn't have sensed the signs of Chimeras hiding so stealthily. But after becoming A-rank, their presence was vivid, as if he were seeing them with his own eyes.
"There's nothing as foolish as charging in defenseless while knowing enemies are hiding."
Jeon had no intention of making such a foolish choice.
Fortunately, Jeon had a good option.
Jeon moved the sand that had been following him like moths.
Gwaaaaang!
The sand rotated fiercely and flew into the cave.
It was an application of Sand Mixer.
The sand filled the narrow cave and shot forward.
Kreeeagh!
Kiiack!
From ahead came the desperate screams of the Chimeras.
The sand, rotating at high speed, had ground up the hiding Chimeras.
Jeon entered the cave that the sand had swept through.
The cave walls and floor were littered with the cruelly minced corpses of Chimeras.
Squelch! Squelch!
Every time Jeon moved his feet, the pooled blood made sounds like screams.
Finally, the sand that had finished dealing with all the demonic beasts returned to Jeon's surroundings.
The sand circling around Jeon like clouds was all too natural.
If he had used a skill of this power normally, his mana would have depleted rapidly and he would have struggled. But now, he felt nothing at all.
It was no different from scooping a few buckets of water from a lake.
At this rate, he felt he could use his skills to his heart's content without worry going forward.
"Great!"
Jeon smiled in satisfaction and quickened his pace.
After walking for a while, another giant underground cavern appeared.
Since he didn't know what kind of Guardian would be waiting this time, Jeon entered the cavern on high alert.
However, the scenery inside was quite different from what he had expected.
There was a Chimera presumed to be a Guardian.
The giant monster, appearing to be well over twenty meters from toe to head, was unmistakably an Ogre.
However, what was peculiar was that, unlike ordinary Ogres, it had two heads attached.
Its proper name was Twin Head Ogre.
The Twin Head Ogre's torso had eight arms attached, and wings were even stuck to its back.
It too was a Chimera born from combination with other demonic beasts.
Ogres were classified among the highest in danger among bipedal demonic beasts, along with the one-eyed giant, Cyclops.
Armed with a gigantic body, tremendous anti-magic power, and enormous strength, ordinary Awakened were nothing more than a meal for an Ogre.
The Twin Head Ogre was several times stronger than an ordinary Ogre.
If the Gold Dragon Haieltun had taken it as a Guardian, this bastard too was highly likely to be a special individual.
Yet such a gigantic Twin Head Ogre was lying dead, miserably.
The skin, boasting tremendous defensive power, was torn open, revealing red inner flesh, and its two heads were rolling around far away from the torso.
He felt he knew who had reduced the Twin Head Ogre Chimera to such a state without even needing to check.
"Deiodeun!"
There was no one but Deiodeun who could kill the Twin Head Ogre so easily, as if breaking a toy.
It was clear that Deiodeun had passed through here.
Jeon hurriedly passed the Twin Head Ogre and entered the cave behind it.
Inside the cave, the corpses of countless Chimeras were strewn about.
This too was a trace of Deiodeun's passage.
Deiodeun had pulverized everything that stood in his way.
It was clear that no Chimera had been able to hold Deiodeun back for even a moment.
Jeon moved his feet, following the trail of Chimera corpses.
The further inside he went, the corpses multiplied exponentially.
The terrible stench and fishy smell flowing from the Chimera corpses made his head spin.
Even so, Jeon moved diligently without so much as frowning.
After walking for a while, another giant underground cavern appeared.
Here too, a giant demonic beast that looked like a Guardian was lying dead miserably.
What was dead was a giant made up of grotesquely clumped Chimera corpses.
"A Corpse Golem?"
If Kaesyu and the Twin Head Ogre Chimera were lifeforms created by combining demonic beasts, then the Corpse Golem was a monster Haieltun had created entirely from nothing.
Gathering Chimera corpses and making them into a single lifeform required several times more effort than making Kaesyu or the Twin Head Ogre Chimera. But it was well worth it.
Because it was that strong.
But even such a Corpse Golem hadn't been able to hold Deiodeun back.
A core was visible in the Corpse Golem's chest area.
It was the same demonic crystal as Kaesyu's.
Haieltun had created the Corpse Golem using the demonic crystal as its core. But unlike Kaesyu's, the Corpse Golem's demonic crystal was brimming with evil energy.
Absorbing the energy of such a demonic crystal would clearly only cause side effects.
Boom!
Jeon detonated a Cremoa, blowing the demonic crystal away.
The demonic crystal shattered into pieces and disappeared, and the energy contained within dispersed like smoke.
It was as Jeon was passing the Corpse Golem's corpse.
Rrrrrumble!
The entire underground space shook as if an earthquake had struck.
Cracks formed in the ceiling and walls, and sand flowed in between them.
Krakoom! Rumble!
The trembling didn't stop after just once.
Even while Jeon moved his feet, the underground space continued to shake, and an enormous wind blew from ahead.
It was a fierce gale that felt like it would crush his face and send his whole body flying.
He could tell what was happening ahead without even having to look.
"Deiodeun is fighting the Dragon."
The atmosphere and mana inside the underground cavern were shaking like mad—that was the proof.
Even before approaching where they were, goosebumps rose on his skin and cold sweat trickled down his spine.
Jeon’s body was reacting first, feeling fear. Next was his head.
For a moment, his mind went blank.
The Dragon's tremendous presence had blown away all thought from Jeon's head.
Without realizing it, Jeon fell to one knee.
Even before directly facing the Dragon, an unbearable fear oppressed him.
Jeon clenched his teeth.
Cold sweat flowed endlessly down the line of his face.
'So this is the might of a Dragon?'
He felt he could understand why the Dragon had existed at the pinnacle of the world called Kurayan.
He too was an A-rank Awakened, yet simply being in the same space affected him this much.
An ordinary Awakened would have surely been vomiting blood and dead by now.
It seemed impossible for B-rank and below Awakened to inflict damage on the Dragon no matter how many gathered.
"Damn it!"
Jeon spat out a curse and forced himself up.
He broke free from the Dragon's presence with a shout.
His entire body was soaked as if bathed in sweat.
"Who says I'd be this scared?"
Jeon muttered as if casting a spell on himself and moved his feet.
Whoooosh!
The further forward he went, the stronger the wind blew.
The storm-like wind scattered the sand following Jeon into pieces. Still, Jeon didn't stop walking.
After walking for a long time, Jeon was finally able to arrive at the giant underground cavern.
The underground cavern was so gigantic its size was unimaginable, and it was entirely made of gold.
In the center of the giant cavern whose walls and ceilings were all made of gold, a Gold Dragon over a hundred and fifty meters in length and one tiny human were fighting fiercely.
It was Haieltun and Deiodeun.
Kwaaaang!
At their clash, the vast underground space shook violently as if it would collapse at any moment.
It was only holding up thanks to some magical reinforcement; otherwise, it would have collapsed long ago.
"Crazy!"
Jeon's eyes went wide at the sight of the two beings fighting.
Haieltun was lightly moving its gigantic body and continuously using magic.
Sometimes flames exploded in the air, and sometimes bundles of lightning flew out. But Deiodeun gracefully dodged all those attacks and struck Haieltun.
Deiodeun kicked off the walls and moved at a speed invisible to the eye.
Tap!
Having approached right up to Haieltun after merely kicking off the walls a couple of times, Deiodeun swung his Craion with all his might.
Kwaaaang!
With an explosive roar, Haieltun's massive body was pushed back, scraping along the ground.
Thanks to the absolute barrier, Absolute Shield, it wasn't wounded, but it received a shock that couldn't be ignored.
Haieltun's eyes flashed in surprise at the intense shock that shook the Absolute Shield.
—How does a mere human possess such power?
"Don't underestimate humans, you lizard bastard!"
Deiodeun shouted furiously and swung his Craion. Toward him, Haieltun cast Reverse Gravity.
In an instant, gravity reversed and Deiodeun's body shot high into the air.
Escaping reversed gravity was impossible without wings. But Deiodeun had Craion.
Craion possessed the ability to fly.
Deiodeun relied on Craion to escape from Haieltun's magic.
"Chaa-at!"
Deiodeun charged with Craion at the forefront, colliding with all his might.
Bwoooong!
The Absolute Shield heaved greatly, as if it would shatter at any moment.
At this, Haieltun was greatly surprised.
Until Deiodeun had come after taking down all the Guardians, Haieltun had not thought him a great threat.
There was no reason for itself, the controller of magic and possessor of the strongest body, to fear a mere human.
To Haieltun, Deiodeun was nothing more than a slightly dangerous toy, neither more nor less.
However, the actual strength of Deiodeun that it clashed with far exceeded its expectations.
Though he bore the form of a human, his inherent combat power and strength were not that of a human.
"Die! You damn lizard!"
Kwaaaang!
At Deiodeun's fierce blow, Haieltun's head was thrown far back.
Slowly returning to its place, Haieltun's golden eyes were filled with rage.
Crackle-boom!
In an instant, a barrage of lightning rained down throughout the entire underground cavern.
Enormous bolts of lightning filled the interior of the underground cavern without giving Deiodeun any space to evade.
"Kahaha! This much can't defeat me."
However, Deiodeun was unscathed even after being struck directly by the lightning.
He radiated madness and charged at Haieltun.
At Deiodeun's appearance like a Berserker, Haieltun unconsciously made an expression of disgust.
Jeon watched Deiodeun's fight with his fist tightly clenched.
It was humiliating, but this was not a battle he could dare interfere in.
"Damn it!"
"You don't need to be so resentful. Soon, you too will become strong like Deiodeun—no, even stronger."
Right then, a sorrowful voice was heard from right beside him.
Turning his head to look, a spider woman was lying on the floor with her upper and lower body separated, looking at him.
Jeon intuitively realized it was Deiodeun's handiwork.
"Who are you?"
"Eblis Leonia. That was my name when I was human."