Chapter 87
As soon as Johan disappeared, Brielle shuddered.
“Ugh! That felt awful.”
She made a big fuss, as if insects were crawling all over her body.
Zeon let out a sigh.
“He just won’t leave things alone. How can someone be that greedy…”
Even back when Zeon hadn’t yet left the slums, Johan had already been the ruler of Dongdaemun.
At that time, Zeon had briefly gone there—but quickly fled in disgust.
Dongdaemun, ruled by Johan, was crawling with fanatics.
Countless people followed him, worshipping some unknown god.
It was hard to even have a proper conversation, and living a normal life was even harder.
Because of that, Zeon gave up trying to adapt to Dongdaemun and returned to Sinchon.
After that, he didn’t even set foot near Dongdaemun for a long time.
“To think he’d start targeting Sinchon the moment Goran disappeared. He moves faster than I expected.”
The slums were maintained by a delicate balance of power among the rulers of each region.
Goran had been one of them.
The moment he disappeared, Johan was the first to bare his fangs.
“I wonder if Eaton can really hold Dongdaemun back.”
Zeon shook his head slightly.
In a way, all of this had been set into motion because he eliminated Goran.
It wasn’t entirely without his responsibility.
But that didn’t mean Zeon had to take responsibility for what followed.
That was simply how the slums worked.
The moment you showed even the slightest weakness, others would tear into you without mercy.
Even a child with an innocent face was no different from a beast.
To survive in a place like this, half-hearted compassion or a sense of justice had to be discarded.
Brielle asked,
“What kind of god do humans worship?”
“Who knows? I don’t know either. Why?”
“The eyes of the one who serves that god were full of greed…”
“Elves are the same.”
“What are you talking about? Elves are pure.”
“I’ve never met a single pure elf. If elves fall into Johan’s hands, they’ll be corrupted in no time.”
“No, they won’t. Elves have strong mental fortitude.”
Brielle denied it strongly.
“Mental strength doesn’t matter. As long as greed exists in the heart, anyone can fall.”
The elves of Kurayan had come to Earth to survive.
The number of living beings a world could sustain was limited.
If beings from another world entered, that meant the number of native beings had to decrease.
The elves knew that.
They knew their survival meant the death of humans on Earth.
And yet, they came anyway.
Though the planet had turned into a desert due to the unforeseen side effects of terraforming—
To survive, they too had become ruthless.
At that moment, greed took root in their hearts.
The elves currently on Earth were no longer the same beings as those of Kurayan.
Even if they themselves refused to admit it.
Brielle glared at Zeon with a pout.
Unbothered, Zeon continued walking.
In the end, Brielle followed after him.
***
The buildings in Dongdaemun were unusually large and complex.
Like most structures in the slums, they had been expanded recklessly, becoming grotesquely oversized.
But Dongdaemun had taken it to an extreme.
Without considering structural strength or stability, they had tried to accommodate as many people as possible, resulting in buildings far larger than those in other districts.
Because of that, the people living there had to suppress the constant fear that everything might collapse at any moment.
Pushing through the maze-like alleys between the buildings, one would eventually come upon a particularly large and tall structure.
It resembled a church—something that had long disappeared from this land.
Except for the absence of a cross on its exterior, it looked exactly like one.
That’s why people simply called it the Church.
At the top of its tallest spire was a large chamber.
This was the residence of Johan, the ruler of Dongdaemun.
Johan stood with his hands behind his back, looking down over Dongdaemun.
Before he became its ruler, this place had been a battlefield of survival of the fittest.
Despite all being slum dwellers unable to enter Neo Seoul, they still divided themselves into classes and preyed upon each other.
“Humans without rules are no different from beasts. The strongest rule is the one set by God.”
Under the pretext of divine will, Johan reorganized the slums and established a strict command system unique to Dongdaemun.
After that, large-scale conflicts disappeared.
Minor disputes and incidents still occurred, but at least there were no longer mass slaughters happening all at once.
That alone satisfied Johan.
And it convinced him that he was right.
“I must continue creating second and third Dongdaemuns.”
By eliminating all forms of order and leaving only a single, absolute one, he would quell the chaos of the world.
That was Johan’s ultimate goal.
His gaze shifted toward the distant walls of Neo Seoul.
“Ultimately, spreading God’s word to the ignorant people beyond that wall—that is the reason I live.”
“Everything will unfold according to your will, Lord Johan.”
At that moment, a woman’s voice came from behind him.
Without even turning around, Johan recognized who it was.
“Jaekyung. I was just about to call for you. Good timing.”
“I thought you might, so I came.”
“Your perceptiveness pleases me.”
Johan smiled as he turned around.
There stood a modest-looking woman dressed in a nun’s habit.
With her eyes slightly lowered, she gave off an inexplicably sacred aura.
Her name was Kim Jaekyung.
She was an orphan.
Johan had taken her in while she was wandering aimlessly and raised her to this point.
She had grown into a devout believer more than anyone else.
Jaekyung asked carefully,
“What task do you have for me?”
“You’ll need to go to Sinchon.”
“Sinchon?”
“Yes. With your ability, you will make one unbeliever repent.”
“So an unbeliever has displeased you, Lord Johan. Who is it?”
“His name is Zeon.”
“Zeon? Understood. I will meet him and persuade him.”
“Be careful. His mental fortitude seems quite strong.”
“You already know, don’t you? No matter how strong someone’s will is, they become helpless before me.”
Kim Jaekyung smiled softly.
Blushing like a shy young girl, she smiled, and Johan nodded.
Having raised her since childhood, he knew her abilities better than anyone.
She would carry out her mission flawlessly.
“Go carefully.”
“Yes!”
With that, Kim Jaekyung left.
Left alone, Johan knelt and murmured,
“Everything will proceed according to Your will.”
***
On the way back home, a strong wind suddenly blew.
Brielle frowned and held down her pointed hat with both hands.
“Ugh! This damn sandstorm. I’m so sick of it.”
The desert wind inevitably carried sand.
Fine grains, barely visible to the naked eye, were mixed into the air.
That’s why even a cooling breeze wasn’t particularly welcome.
Brielle lowered her head deeply to avoid the sand as much as possible.
Meanwhile, Zeon kept his head upright, facing the sandstorm head-on.
To others, the sand-laden wind was unpleasant—but to him, it felt as comforting as a mother’s touch he couldn’t even remember.
The sand didn’t harm him.
Instead, it circled around him, gently brushing against him.
With a faint smile on his lips, Zeon savored the sensation.
In a way, it was as if the sand itself was acting spoiled toward him.
But Brielle, with her head lowered, failed to notice the scene.
After a while, the wind stopped, and the sand scattered far away.
Only then did Brielle raise her head and brush off the sand piled on her hat.
“Ugh… I really hate sand.”
Zeon smiled slightly at her reaction and continued walking.
Following him, Brielle tilted her head.
“But why isn’t there any sand on your shoulders? Did you shake it off already?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re faster than you look. Well, I guess you hate sand too, right?”
“No. I like sand.”
“Well, since you control sand, I guess that makes sense—”
“Shh!”
“Huh? Why?”
“Loose lips sink ships.”
“What?”
“I’m telling you to watch what you say. You even made a promise about it…”
“Ah!”
Only then did Brielle remember that Zeon could control sand.
As a sand mage, of course sand wouldn’t bother him.
Zeon said to her,
“You go in first.”
“What about you?”
“I have somewhere to stop by.”
“Where? The goblin market?”
“No.”
“Then where?”
“Stop asking and just go home, kid.”
“Tch!”
Brielle clicked her tongue.
Knowing he wouldn’t tell her no matter how much she pressed, she gave up and headed home alone.
Zeon watched her for a moment before moving.
The place he headed to was the desert outside the slums.
Brielle hadn’t noticed, but Zeon had smelled something mixed in with the sandstorm.
It was a foreign scent—something rarely encountered within the slums.
Only Zeon, awakened as a sand mage, could detect it. Other Awakened wouldn’t be able to.
Leaving the slums wasn’t difficult.
Like Neo Seoul, it was surrounded by walls, but they weren’t very high, nor were they guarded.
The anti-demonic force surrounding Neo Seoul deterred monsters, and in fact, not a single monster had approached this area in decades.
Because of that, neither the people of Neo Seoul nor those in the slums worried about monsters.
What people truly feared… were other humans.
Awakened individuals encountered monsters regularly while hunting them outside.
But for ordinary people, it was rare to see even one in a lifetime.
Zeon left the walls behind and stepped onto the sand.
Shrrrk—
The sand shifted, carrying him forward.
“It should be around here…”
Standing several kilometers away from Neo Seoul, Zeon looked around.
Everything in sight was sand.
He raised his control.
At that moment, he sensed movement deep underground.
“Hmm.”
Furrowing his brow slightly, Zeon waved his hand.
The sand beneath his feet surged like a wave, pushing outward in all directions.
In an instant, a massive pit formed beneath him.
It was a huge crater, nearly thirty meters deep.
Kiiiieee!
At the center of the pit, a larva the size of an adult writhed.
On its surface were patterns resembling ghostly faces.
Zeon frowned and muttered,
“As expected… a ghost dragonfly larva. Why is this thing here?”
The ghost dragonfly was a flying-type monster.
Compared to other monsters, it wasn’t particularly strong.
Of course, that was only from Zeon’s perspective—ordinary people would consider it a disaster.
The real problem was that this wasn’t its habitat.
These creatures usually lived hundreds of kilometers away from Neo Seoul.
Their larvae, in particular, were extremely sensitive to external energy and would never approach areas with strong anti-demonic force like Neo Seoul.
If Neo Seoul’s anti-demonic barrier had been functioning properly, it wouldn’t have even dared to come near.
“So something really has gone wrong with Neo Seoul’s barrier…”
Kiiiieee!
Exposed to the outside, the larva writhed violently, releasing a foul stench.
The smell Zeon had sensed in the slums—it was this.
The stench of the ghost dragonfly larva was so vile and potent that once smelled, it could never be forgotten.
Spaaat!
The larva spat acidic fluid toward Zeon.
Even a single drop would melt flesh instantly.
“Tch.”
Clicking his tongue, Zeon waved his hand.
A blazing flame erupted, instantly incinerating both the larva and its acid.
Fwoosh!
Zeon silently watched as the larva turned to ash and disappeared in an instant.