Chapter 285
“Fuck! We can’t get pushed back here. Front line, hold tighter! If you break, we all die!”
“These bastards have gone insane. They’re charging in without any fear.”
A group of awakened fighters was locked in a fierce battle against demonic beasts.
They were a Pathfinder team dispatched from Neo Seoul.
The beasts they faced were a pack of Great Horn Hyenas, one of the most commonly seen monsters in the desert.
Once they marked prey, they pursued it until death, making them among the most troublesome beasts to deal with.
Because of that, when encountering a pack of Great Horn Hyenas in the desert, the fight usually continued until one side was annihilated.
Eun Suyoung, leader of Pathfinder Team 3, gritted her teeth and swung her sword.
She was a C-rank martial-type awakened.
Korean by descent, she possessed a notably sturdy build for a woman. Matching that physique was tremendous strength, allowing her to freely wield a sword as large as her own body.
“Fuck! Why the hell are Great Horn Hyenas showing up here?”
Pathfinder teams normally kept track of the habitats and ecosystems of the monsters around Neo Seoul.
Even when they had passed through this area just two days earlier, there had been no sign of Great Horn Hyenas.
Since this wasn’t even their natural habitat, they had thought nothing of it.
That was why they naturally chose this route on their return trip as well.
Never did they imagine it would become such a fatal mistake.
Out of nowhere, packs of Great Horn Hyenas had appeared and launched a ferocious assault.
Acting as a true leader, Eun Suyoung stepped to the front lines to block the beasts.
The other martial-type awakened formed a defensive wall beside her.
Meanwhile, the magic-type awakened unleashed spells from the rear, killing the hyenas.
Boom!
Puh-eok!
Kkya-ga-gang!
Magic struck the hyenas, killing them one after another.
Yet despite seeing their own kind slaughtered, the Great Horn Hyenas showed no fear and continued charging relentlessly.
Though Eun Suyoung and the martial-types fought desperately, the defensive line shook precariously.
“Fuck! At this rate we’re all going to die.”
“Damn it!”
Fear appeared on the faces of the Pathfinder members.
They had always known a day like this might eventually come, but now that they were truly facing such hopeless circumstances, the terror of death overwhelmed them.
Many of their comrades had already disappeared into the bellies of monsters.
Now it seemed to be their turn.
KWA-JIK!
“Keugh!”
At that moment, one of the awakened fighters on the front line had his shoulder bitten by a Great Horn Hyena.
The creature’s massive fangs pierced through his armor and tore deep into his flesh.
“William!”
“You damned mutt!”
The nearby awakened swung their swords to save him, but it was useless.
Even while suffering injuries itself, the Great Horn Hyena stubbornly refused to let go.
The beast tried dragging the awakened back toward its pack.
If it succeeded, he would undoubtedly be torn apart and devoured alive.
Just as Eun Suyoung was about to recklessly rush forward to save him—
THUD!
A powerful tremor suddenly shook the ground.
Thinking another monster had appeared, the Pathfinder awakened tensed in fear.
THUD!
Once more, a heavy footstep echoed.
Then, beyond the sand dunes, an enormous figure emerged.
“Ah…”
“Fuck… we’re finished.”
The instant they saw the gigantic creature, despair filled the awakened.
What appeared beyond the dunes was a monstrous giant turtle.
The moment the Pathfinder members saw the grotesque turtle with sharp spikes protruding from its shell and head, they collapsed to the ground.
Its overwhelming size alone crushed their will to fight.
That was how massive the creature was.
Every single step it took made the entire area quake like an earthquake.
Even the Great Horn Hyenas, who had been madly attacking the awakened moments ago, retreated in shock upon its appearance.
Even beasts like Great Horn Hyenas—creatures that normally never backed down from stronger monsters—had become terrified by the monstrous turtle’s overwhelming presence.
“Where did a monster like that come from…?”
Eun Suyoung trembled so hard her teeth clattered together.
Then it happened.
A human voice came from atop the giant turtle’s shell.
“Arkelon! Wipe them out.”
At that instant, the monstrous turtle opened its jaws wide and fired a compressed air cannon.
BOOOOM!
Kweeeek!
Kuh-heong!
Explosions erupted within the hyena pack.
The Great Horn Hyenas hit directly by the compressed air blasts vanished without leaving a trace.
The destructive power was absolutely overwhelming.
The giant turtle continued firing compressed air shells one after another.
Puh-buh-buh-boom!
With thunderous explosions, countless Great Horn Hyenas were swept away.
The hyenas began to flee.
No matter how fearless they were, even Great Horn Hyenas had no choice but to retreat before such overwhelming size and power.
Thanks to that, Eun Suyoung and the awakened barely managed to survive.
But they still could not relax.
Because the monstrous turtle—far more terrifying than the hyenas—was approaching them.
Thud! Thud!
The closer it came, the stronger the tremors became.
Just as they were convinced they would all be devoured by the giant turtle, the same voice spoke again.
“So they really were awakened from Neo Seoul.”
The old man who emerged from atop the giant turtle’s shell was none other than Pabilsa.
Beside him stood Zeon and Kaylie.
Looking at the awakened still sitting there in a daze, Zeon remarked,
“They must’ve been really shocked. Judging by the way they still can’t move.”
“Anyone seeing Arkelon for the first time would react that way.”
“It looks like we can return to Neo Seoul together with them. Thank you for bringing us this far.”
“No, I should be the thankful one. Thanks to you, not only did our Arkelon recover completely, it even advanced an entire rank.”
Now an A-rank beast, Arkelon had acquired a new attack skill: Compressed Air Cannon.
The skill itself was simple enough, but when unleashed by an A-rank monster, its power existed on an entirely different level.
The Compressed Air Cannon possessed enough destructive power to erase ordinary demonic beasts without leaving a trace.
It truly lived up to the title of a mobile fortress.
Thanks to that, Zeon had been able to ride Arkelon comfortably all the way here.
If it were up to him, he would have preferred to ride Arkelon all the way to Neo Seoul.
But if he did, Arkelon would inevitably attract Jin Geumho’s attention.
And there was nothing good about drawing Jin Geumho’s interest.
There was no knowing what kind of schemes he might devise.
Zeon looked toward Kaylie.
“You should take care too, noona.”
“Mm! You too. If things get hard in Neo Seoul, come find Arkelon anytime.”
“I will.”
“Take care!”
Kaylie wore a slightly regretful expression.
She still felt reluctant to part ways with Zeon so soon.
But this was where they had to separate.
They were nomads who wandered the desert.
Now that Arkelon had fully recovered, they needed to return to the Iron Fortress, pick up the tribe members they had temporarily left behind, and continue roaming the desert once more.
That was the destiny of the Mote tribe.
After exchanging farewells with the two, Zeon climbed down from Arkelon and approached the Pathfinder team.
Eun Suyoung and the awakened stared blankly at Zeon.
Everything felt so unreal that it still hadn’t sunk in.
Zeon asked them,
“Are you alright?”
“Ah… y-yes… um…”
Eun Suyoung stammered.
“My name is Zeon.”
“Zeon? Wait… the Sand Sorcerer?”
Eun Suyoung stared at him in shock.
Awakened affiliated with City Hall knew all the major awakened in Neo Seoul.
Zeon’s name was near the very top of that list.
There was no way she wouldn’t recognize it.
“How are you here?”
“I went outside for a while and was on my way back to Neo Seoul.”
“Ah!”
“More importantly, this person’s injuries seem severe…”
Zeon approached the awakened who had been bitten earlier by the Great Horn Hyena.
The man was barely clinging to consciousness through superhuman willpower, but his condition was critical.
Zeon took out a Healing Potion made by Briel from his subspace and handed it over.
“Drink half of it and pour the rest over the wound.”
“Keugh… th-thank you.”
The awakened used the potion exactly as instructed.
The moment he used the Healing Potion, the pain vanished, and fresh flesh began filling the large hole torn into his shoulder.
He wasn’t completely healed, but the immediate danger had unquestionably passed.
“Hooo…”
Only then did the injured awakened let out a relieved sigh.
He stared at his wound with disbelief.
The flesh had regenerated imperfectly, so he would still need surgery later, but even this much recovery was miraculous.
Healing Potions had also been developed in Neo Seoul, but none possessed such dramatic restorative effects.
The effectiveness of the potion Zeon had given him was astonishing.
“Thank you. You saved my life.”
“It was nothing.”
“The Great Horn Hyenas suddenly appeared, and we thought we were doomed for sure. If it weren’t for you, Zeon-nim, we all would’ve been wiped out.”
“I’m just glad we weren’t too late.”
Had Zeon and Arkelon arrived even a little later, Pathfinder Team 3 would have been annihilated without a trace.
Thud! Thud!
At that moment, heavy footsteps echoed out.
It was the sound of Arkelon moving away.
With each thunderous step, Arkelon slowly grew more distant.
The figures of Pabilsa and Kaylie waving from atop its back gradually faded into the distance as well.
Eun Suyoung carefully asked,
“But… what exactly is that? Is it really possible for humans to tame and ride such an enormous demonic beast?”
“That’s impossible for ordinary people.”
Zeon offered no further explanation about Arkelon.
If detailed information spread and Neo Seoul began tracking Arkelon, it would only create trouble.
Knowing that, Pabilsa and Kaylie had also hurriedly departed.
Zeon asked Eun Suyoung,
“Were you carrying out a mission?”
“Yes. We were investigating whether it would be possible to establish a shelter nearby.”
“A shelter? All the way out here?”
“Well…”
Eun Suyoung hesitated briefly.
After glancing at her companions, she finally seemed to make up her mind and spoke cautiously.
“To tell the truth, not far from here we discovered a location we suspect contains buried magic stones.”
“A magic stone mine?”
Zeon’s eyes widened slightly.
He understood just how important magic stone mines were to Neo Seoul.
It was thanks to the magic stone mine discovered during the city’s early days that Neo Seoul had been able to develop into what it was now.
The stable supply of magic stones from that mine had made it possible.
However, as time passed, mining had become increasingly difficult.
All the magic stones near the surface had already been extracted.
Only those buried deep within the tunnels remained.
As mining difficulty skyrocketed, production had visibly declined.
To obtain the same amount of magic stones as before, far more miners and equipment now had to be deployed.
Naturally, Neo Seoul’s concerns had only grown deeper.
For Neo Seoul to continue surviving, a stable supply of high-quality magic stones was absolutely essential.
And then Pathfinder Team 3 had discovered what appeared to be another magic stone mine nearby.
“Are you certain?”
“We’ve at least confirmed magic stones distributed near the surface. We were planning to establish a shelter so we could properly determine the scale of the deposit. But then those damned hyenas attacked…”
Eun Suyoung wore a frustrated expression.
Thankfully, there had been no deaths thanks to Zeon, but the fact they had nearly been annihilated still felt humiliating to her.
Zeon asked,
“So what will you do now?”
“If Zeon-nim is willing to help us, we’d like to return to Neo Seoul with proof that the magic stone mine exists. But…”
“There’s a problem?”
“Yes.”
Eun Suyoung bit her lip tightly.