Chapter 28

Buzzzzz!

The image of Zeon reflected in the eyes of the wing-flapping queen bee.

The queen knew.

She knew that the one who had dealt a devastating blow to her swarm was Zeon.

Though she was a demonic beast, she possessed intelligence close to that of a human.

Because of that, instead of attacking recklessly like Go Du-won, she carefully observed and probed.

Zeon found it strange.

Even while facing the gigantic queen bee, he didn't feel much fear.

Although he had only recently awakened, he had fought countless demonic beasts.

None of the ones he had fought were inferior to the queen bee.

In fact, if judged by individual danger alone, some were even more dangerous than her.

What made the queen bee terrifying was her ability to command an immeasurable number of bomb bees.

But now that she had lost most of her subordinates, she wasn't as dangerous.

This wasn't arrogance on Zeon's part.

Right now, he was calmer than anyone else.

Skills were the blossoming of the talent an Awakened possessed.

They evolved when conditions, timing, effort, and instinct aligned.

In the early days, all Awakened developed their skills like that. But as time passed and experience accumulated, more efficient ways to grow skills were established.

A kind of formula had been created.

Most Awakened followed this method. It avoided waste.

But this method had a major flaw.

By following a fixed formula, one's thinking became limited.

Since the formula was considered the most efficient, there was no reason to explore other methods.

But Zeon was different.

He was the only Awakened who controlled sand.

It was a path no one had ever walked.

Because of that, he had to think desperately and find the optimal path of growth himself.

Thanks to that effort and contemplation, Zeon had gained a cold, unwavering mind that wouldn't falter in any situation.

Of course, Deioden's "teaching"—or rather, his neglect disguised as teaching—also played a part.

'I have the advantage in affinity.'

The problem was how to safely rescue Har, who was hanging from the queen bee's abdomen.

Even if he killed the queen, it would be meaningless if he couldn't save her.

It was as if Zeon had been given a handicap.

He drew a plan in his mind.

The moment the image of rescuing Har was complete, the queen bee could no longer hold back and attacked.

Whoosh!

At nearly the speed of sound, the massive body of the queen bee lunged at Zeon.

In that instant, Zeon raised a wall of sand.

It was taller and thicker than any he had made before.

No matter how powerful the queen bee was, crashing into a sand wall of that thickness would surely cause significant impact.

But no collision sound came.

Just before hitting the wall, the queen bee twisted her trajectory as if she had anticipated it.

She came to a sudden stop, then shot straight upward.

Swoosh!

From high in the air, she looked down at Zeon and then plunged straight down.

The first attack had been a feint—this was her real move.

But Zeon didn't panic.

This too was within his expectations.

"Chaah!"

Rumble!

The sand near Zeon's feet compressed and shot toward the queen bee.

It was a sand blaster—sand fired under high pressure.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The blasts struck the queen bee's body in rapid succession.

Each hit caused her massive form to shake violently.

Individually, the sand blaster's power wasn't that great.

But it was enough to slightly disrupt her balance.

Because of that, her flight speed slowed just a bit.

In that moment, Zeon used Sand Step to move slightly out of her flight path.

Whoosh!

The queen bee brushed past him by a hair's breadth.

At that instant, Zeon fired a Sand Missile.

Boom!

With a loud explosion, the sand missile struck the egg from which Har was hanging.

From the impact, both the egg and Har fell.

'Good!'

A smile spread across Zeon's face.

The thrill of seeing the plan he had drawn in his mind unfold perfectly in reality sent a shiver through him.

But it was too early to celebrate.

His mana had run dry.

It was the price of using skills without rest.

Kiiiii!

The queen bee shrieked after losing the egg and Har.

She flew back again to reclaim them.

There was no longer any trace of her earlier cunning.

Impatience had driven out her reason.

Zeon muttered quietly,

"Sand Mixer!"

A flash burst from Elura's Tear hanging around his neck, instantly refilling his depleted mana.

At that moment, an enormous mass of sand rose up and wrapped around the queen bee.

Then it began spinning at high speed.

Rooooar!

The rapidly rotating sand began grinding away at her body.

Kiiieee!

The queen bee screamed as she struggled to escape the Sand Mixer.

But Zeon skillfully controlled it, trapping her completely.

Her wings were torn apart by the spinning sand, and her shell shattered piece by piece.

As her screams continued, the remaining bomb bees flew in to save their queen.

Some attacked Zeon, while the rest dove straight into the swirling sand where the queen bee was trapped.

At that moment, Go Du-won, who had come back to his senses, fired arrows to protect Zeon.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bomb bees exploded one after another around Zeon.

Thanks to that, Zeon was able to concentrate and maintain the Sand Mixer.

Explosions rang out continuously from within the sand.

It was the sound of the bomb bees being crushed inside the Sand Mixer and detonating.

The explosions dealt heavy damage even to the already weakened queen bee.

The loyalty of the bomb bees, who rushed in to save her, ended up injuring her instead.

Crack!

At last, a large hole was pierced through the queen bee's head.

The sand burrowed into the hole, grinding away her brain and internal organs.

The rapidly spinning sand had already turned crimson with blood.

"Okay! That's enough."

At that moment, Zeon stopped the skill.

Though he spoke calmly, his face had turned completely pale.

His mental strength and mana were entirely exhausted.

Thud!

As the Sand Mixer stopped, the queen bee fell to the ground.

Her condition was truly miserable.

Her head was gone, nowhere to be seen, and her body was covered in deep gouges from the grinding sand. The wings that once enabled her high-speed flight had vanished without a trace.

It was a pitiful end for a demonic beast that had ruled the Black Forest for so long.

"Har!"

With the threat gone, Go Du-won ran to his daughter.

"Dad?"

Har looked at him while holding the egg.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm okay!"

Har replied with difficulty.

Go Du-won's gaze shifted to the egg in her arms.

"Why are you holding the queen bee's egg? Throw it away."

"This isn't an egg."

"What?"

"It's not something the queen bee laid."

"How do you know that?"

"I just do."

"What do you mean?"

"This child called me."

"The egg called you?"

"Yes!"

Har nodded.

While playing in front of her house, she had felt a powerful pull.

The egg was calling her.

Following that call, she walked—until she found herself in front of the queen bee.

The bomb bees had attacked her on the way here, but for some reason, she had remained unharmed.

The egg had protected her.

Go Du-won looked again at the egg in her arms with a new expression.

A faint blue light was emanating from it.

It had the shape of an egg, but there was no shell. It looked as if blue light itself had been compressed into a round form.

A thought surfaced in Go Du-won's mind.

"Could it be… a spirit egg?"

His wife had once said:

This land was too damaged for spirits to live in, so none existed.

And yet, she had hoped that one day a spirit would be born.

Out of curiosity, Go Du-won had asked,

"How are spirits born?"

"From the wind of nature, and the will to exist. When the wishes of humans or elves are added, a spirit is born somewhere. The primordial spirit exists in the form of an egg, feeding on the desire for life until one day it breaks its shell and emerges."

That meant the spirit egg Har was holding must have been born on its own within the queen bee's hive.

It had judged that to be the best place for survival.

And then it called out to Har.

'Because Har is a half-elf.'

Elves were said to be born with strong affinity for spirits.

Since there were no other elves nearby, it must have called Har, the half-elf.

"That's it! This is definitely a spirit egg."

"A spirit egg? Then a spirit will be born from it?"

Zeon looked at it with curiosity.

This was a world overflowing with Awakened.

Adding spirits into the mix wasn't strange at all.

But this was the first time Zeon had even heard the word "spirit."

Without any hesitation, Har held out the spirit egg to Zeon.

"Do you want to touch it?"

"Is that okay?"

"Yeah!"

Zeon carefully reached out and touched the spirit egg.

At that moment, a strange warmth spread through his palm.

The warmth traveled up his arm and reached his heart.

"…Hmm!"

Startled by the peculiar sensation, Zeon pulled his hand away.

Har smiled and said,

"It says thank you."

"Who? The egg?"

"Yes!"

"You can hear its voice?"

"Yes! It said it was born in the queen bee's nest and waited a long time for someone who could hear its voice."

"And that someone was you."

"Yes! It thought if it didn't call now, it might lose its chance once you left, so it called me even though it was difficult."

"Hmm."

Har answered with an innocent expression.

There was no sense that she was lying.

At that moment, Go Du-won grabbed Zeon's hand.

"Thank you so much! Thanks to you, I saved my daughter and we can restore the Black Forest. It's all because of you. I don't know how to repay this debt."

"It's fine. This is enough."

Zeon replied, glancing at Elura's Tear hanging from his neck.

The more he looked at it, the more incredible it seemed.

An item that could fully restore mana once a day.

Thanks to it, he no longer had to worry about mana.

That alone was more than enough reward.

"Let's head out now. If I don't return by morning, Deioden will abandon me and leave."

"Why not stay here instead? It would be a hundred times better than following Deioden. You may not know this, but walking the path he's taking is practically suicide."

"I know."

"Then will you stay?"

"I'll still follow him."

"Why?"

"Just… stubbornness, I guess."

Zeon smiled.

That was the only way he could put it for now.

Go Du-won looked at him with a hint of pity, but said nothing more.

He did covet Zeon's abilities, but the greatest threat—the bomb bee swarm—had already been eliminated, so it was no longer necessary.

The Black Forest, now rid of the bomb bees, was eerily quiet.

The massive shadows cast by the charred trees made it feel like a place from another world.

Even having a space to avoid the sunlight gave the forest value.

But this was not a place for Zeon.

He belonged on the sun-scorched sands of the desert.

As he exited the Black Forest, Deioden greeted him.

"You're late, you idiot!"

'You damn old bastard.'

Zeon responded with a smile.