Chapter 83
Fwoosh!
A tremendous blaze filled the underground space.
No fire that occurred naturally could ever possess such power.
It was a fire created by Zeon.
The ultra-high heat burned everything beneath the ground.
The corpses of the Crocs and the alligators, Goran and Ava, and even the bodies that had been supplying blood—nothing was left behind. Everything turned to ash.
After the raging flames swept through, not a single thing remained in the underground space.
“Are you even human?”
Brielle looked at Zeon with a fed-up expression.
A sand mage who could also wield fire.
Even in the world of elves, dual awakeners were extremely rare.
There were those who happened to awaken two abilities, but usually one became their primary power while the other served only as support.
Someone who could freely use both abilities like this—Zeon was the first she had ever seen.
Zeon frowned slightly as he looked at Brielle.
“Let’s go.”
“We’re leaving?”
“What, you want to stay here?”
“No… I’m leaving.”
Brielle shook her head and stuck close to Zeon.
She had been trapped in this hellish place for over a year, where not even a ray of light entered.
Just the thought of seeing sunlight again made her excited.
With Brielle practically clinging to him, Zeon walked through the underground passage.
“Huff… huff! W-wait a moment…”
But after walking for a while, Brielle suddenly stopped.
Her face had turned pale, and she staggered as if she might collapse at any moment.
Zeon asked,
“What is it?”
“Damn it! M-meds…”
Brielle hurriedly searched her clothes and pulled out several pills.
At that moment, Zeon’s eyes turned cold.
“Drugs?”
“N-no! Stimulants.”
Brielle quickly swallowed the pills.
As soon as she took them, her complexion returned to normal.
“Haah… haah… I can breathe again.”
“An elf using stimulants? And didn’t you say you were a High Elf?”
“Damn it! You think I take them because I want to? This is all because of you humans.”
“What do you mean?”
“I was forced to make drugs day and night without any protective gear or items. Do you think my body would stay normal?”
Under the watch of the alligators, she had been forced to manufacture drugs.
Before she knew it, her own body had become ruined by them.
She couldn’t live a single day without medication, and her condition was so fragile that it wouldn’t be strange if she dropped dead the next day.
In the end, to survive, she secretly began making other kinds of drugs.
They were a kind of stimulant and supplement.
Fortunately, they stopped her body from deteriorating further—but in exchange, she became someone who couldn’t live without them.
That was why she hated humans.
Her hatred toward the humans who had corrupted a pure elf this far felt justified to her.
At least, that’s what Brielle believed.
“If you keep relying on drugs like that, you’ll die a miserable death someday.”
“Hmph! Don’t pretend to care. You’re just another human…”
“Is there a way to break free from them?”
“I don’t know! I’ll figure it out before I die.”
“Then all you can do is hope for luck.”
“I don’t need comfort from a human.”
“You’re the one who chose to follow that human.”
“Damn it!”
“If your body’s recovered, let’s go.”
Zeon started walking again.
Brielle glared at his back for a moment before hurriedly following him.
After walking for quite a while, they finally reached a door leading outside.
Brielle squinted at the intense light pouring in through the wide-open doorway.
After being trapped underground for so long, even her eyes had weakened.
If she went outside like this, the sunlight might burn her retinas.
She pulled her pointed hat low to shield her eyes.
Zeon grabbed her hand.
Brielle flinched in surprise.
“You won’t be able to follow me if you don’t hold on.”
“Cheh!”
She pouted at his words—
but didn’t let go of his hand.
Because she knew he was right.
Holding hands, Zeon and Brielle walked side by side through the streets.
Hot wind mixed with sand, the noisy chatter of people, and the intense sunlight felt across her entire body—
Brielle trembled slightly at the overwhelming sensations she hadn’t felt in over a year.
She had missed this feeling for so long.
Drip.
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
She lowered her head deeply so Zeon wouldn’t see them.
Since Brielle stayed silent, Zeon didn’t speak either.
The two walked quietly down the street.
By the time they reached Sinchon, it had already returned to normal, as if the chain of explosions had never happened.
It was tragic that people had died, but the living had to go on.
Even if the streets turned into chaos again today and countless people died, the market would reopen tomorrow.
“Huh?”
“Th-that’s… Zeon.”
Some people recognized him.
Shock spread across their faces.
They all knew about the fight between Goran and Zeon.
The street had been devastated because of their battle—it would’ve been stranger not to know.
The problem was that the one who returned wasn’t Goran, but Zeon.
It was a fight that would only end when one of them died.
Zeon’s return meant he was the victor.
There wasn’t a single person on this street who didn’t understand that.
“Did Zeon really win?”
“My god…”
“Does that mean the owner of this street has changed?”
The crowd’s agitation reached Zeon.
They wanted him to say something—
but he simply passed by them indifferently and entered the building where his home was.
“Huff… huff!”
By the time they climbed all eighteen floors, Brielle’s complexion had turned pale again.
Breathing heavily, she once more pulled out stimulants from her clothes and took them.
With the help of the drugs, she barely managed to make it to the eighteenth floor.
“Haah! Haah! Damn it… my heart’s going to burst.”
She leaned against the wall, gasping for air.
“It’s here.”
Zeon opened the door to his home.
Brielle entered without much expectation—but the moment she stepped inside, she froze in shock at how different it was from what she had imagined.
“What? Why is it so clean? There’s even a barrier?”
Her eyes widened as she looked around.
As a High Elf, she could clearly see the barrier covering Zeon’s house.
She had never seen such a finely crafted barrier, even in her homeland.
“That… is that a mana generator? And what’s that gem on top? Is that the source of the barrier?”
Brielle trembled as she examined it.
They say you only see as much as you know.
Because she had some knowledge of barriers, she could tell just how extraordinary it was.
“What exactly are you? Are you really human? Or… are you a dragon in polymorph?”
“You know about dragons too?”
“Are you kidding? Who doesn’t know dragons?”
“Have you ever seen one?”
“Of course not.”
Brielle lowered her head.
A young elf like her would never have seen a dragon in person.
Only a handful of dragons had crossed into this world, and all of them hid deep in places beyond human reach.
They weren’t careless enough to reveal themselves to a mere young elf.
Dragons were unimaginably ferocious, cunning, and cruel.
If Brielle had ever encountered one, she likely wouldn’t be an elf of this world anymore.
She looked up at Zeon.
“Am I living here from now on?”
“For the time being.”
“Yay!”
Brielle ran toward the bed.
While she had been forced to make drugs underground, the thing she missed most was a warm bed.
That was why she rushed toward it first.
But she didn’t get her wish.
Zeon grabbed her by the back of the neck.
“That’s not your place.”
“Then where am I supposed to sleep?”
Instead of answering, Zeon glanced at the sofa.
“You’re telling me to sleep on the sofa? Isn’t that too harsh for a lady?”
“First, you’re not a lady. Second, the bed is mine. Third—”
“What, there’s a third too?”
“Yeah. Third—because I say so.”
“Ugh!”
“So don’t even think about my bed. Sleep on the sofa. I’m already being generous.”
“Grr…!”
Brielle glared at Zeon, grinding her teeth.
Her eyes welled up with tears, but it didn’t move him in the slightest.
In the end, she trudged weakly toward the sofa.
But the moment she lay down, her expression brightened instantly.
“Wow! It’s soft… so soft!”
The sofa was far softer and more comfortable than she had expected.
After flailing her arms and legs around for a while, Brielle soon fell into a deep sleep.
Ssshh… ssshh…
Listening to her quiet breathing, Zeon thought,
‘A High Elf’s pact…’
The bond of the pact connected him and Brielle.
It was impossible to forcibly sever it.
Since she had chosen to follow him, he now had the obligation to take care of her.
An unexpected burden had attached itself to him.
‘To break the pact… do I need to find a High Elf village?’
Come to think of it, he hadn’t asked where Brielle’s village was or how many lived there.
Zeon decided he would ask once she woke up.
Before that, there was something else he needed to do.
Leaving the deeply sleeping Brielle behind, Zeon stepped out of the house.
The place he headed to was Goran’s establishment.
Around the collapsed arena, Goran’s businesses were scattered.
Zeon entered one of the buildings where prostitutes gathered.
Even though they saw him enter, not a single one of them tried to stop him.
They already knew.
As of today, the ruler of this street had changed.
They had no will to resist the new ruler.
A slightly older-looking prostitute stepped forward.
“Welcome.”
“You seem to know who I am.”
“This is not a place where you survive a single day without awareness. Of course I know you.”
“That makes things easier. Where is Eaton?”
“Pardon?”
“Don’t make me repeat myself. Tell me where Eaton is.”
“I’ll guide you.”
The prostitute led Zeon to Ava’s room.
Eaton was lying there, receiving treatment.
“You…!”
Seeing Zeon, Eaton struggled to get up.
His wounds from Zeon hadn’t healed yet, so even rising was difficult—but he forced himself to stand.
He couldn’t just sit there and accept whatever came.
“Where is Lord Goran? Don’t tell me… you defeated him?”
“Goran, Ava, and a man named Taeo—all of them died by my hand.”
“That’s… impossible!”
“Believe it or not, you’re the only one left alive among those who followed Goran.”
Eaton’s face turned deathly pale.
If Zeon’s words were true, then Goran’s entire faction had been wiped out.
Zeon spoke again.
“You have two choices left. One is to fight to the end and die.”
“…Is there another option?”
“Of course.”
“What is it?”
“Become the ruler of Sinchon in Goran’s place.”
“…What?”
Eaton blinked, unable to process Zeon’s words for a moment.
Logically, the one who defeated Goran—Zeon—should become the ruler of Sinchon.
“Why would you… offer that to me instead of taking it yourself?”
“I’m fine with things as they are. If you refuse, I’ll just choose someone else.”
“N-no! I’ll do it. I’ll become the ruler of Sinchon.”
Eaton answered quickly.
Greed now filled his face.
He had worked under Goran because he believed him to be an insurmountable mountain—but he too had ambition.
Knowing this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he didn’t hesitate to seize it.
The fact that Ava—his lover—had died at Zeon’s hands didn’t matter.
There were plenty of others to replace her.
Zeon spoke calmly.
“If you promise me one thing, the position is yours.”
“What is it?”
Eaton looked at him with burning desire.
Zeon’s answer was simple.
“Don’t make things troublesome for me.”