Chapter 556

Chapter 556

“Huuk! Huuk!”

Duran collapsed face-first onto the ground, gasping for breath. His face was deathly pale.

The same was true for Liala and Uslan.

For the past two days, they had run almost without rest.

Thanks to the magic Tesserina had placed on them, they had sprinted day and night for two full days in a fully doped state.

The price was horrific.

The moment the doping effect wore off, pain surged through their entire bodies, as if their muscles were being torn to shreds.

Every time they breathed, they could taste blood, to the point that it made them wonder if the inside of their lungs had been torn apart.

That was how far they had pushed their stamina to the limit.

Looking at them, Tesserina said,

“If Lemura were here, she would’ve restored their stamina in one go.”

“Can’t you just heal them with magic, sis?”

“I already did.”

“And they’re still like that?”

Levin looked at Tesserina with a puzzled expression.

“Unlike Lemura’s ability, recovery magic isn’t omnipotent. And they’ve already been squeezed to their absolute limits. If I apply more recovery magic now, it’ll only cause side effects instead.”

“I see.”

“It’ll take some time for them to recover their stamina, so let’s rest as well.”

“Yes!”

Levin replied energetically.

Unlike the others, he was still full of vigor.

That was because, unlike Liala and Uslan, he didn’t need to run himself to death.

It was thanks to his ghostification ability.

By now, his ability had improved to the point where he could remain ghostified all day without any problem. On top of that, with Tesserina’s magic fully doping him, there was no way he could get tired.

Levin suddenly lifted his head and looked for Zeon.

Zeon was riding the sandstorm, high up in the sky.

While the others rested, he was keeping watch over the surroundings from above.

Tesserina let out a small snort of laughter.

“No matter how you look at it, that ability is downright unfair.”

“Are you okay, sis?”

“Of course.”

“Then should we eat something while we’re resting?”

“Shall we?”

No sooner had Tesserina finished speaking than Levin pulled out a lunch container from subspace and handed it to her.

“What’s this?”

“It’s combat rations developed in Neo Seoul. They’re good for eating during breaks like this.”

“Really?”

“If you peel off this seal here—”

Ssssss!

In an instant, the container heated up, and the food inside began cooking rapidly.

“A heating magic?”

“Yes! There’s a magic circle engraved on the inside of the seal.”

“To think they’d engrave a magic circle onto such a small container. Wouldn’t it be simpler to just cast magic directly?”

“Well, not everyone can use magic.”

“Ah.”

“The key is making it usable even by people who can’t cast magic. That’s how technology develops as it becomes popularized, or so they say.”

“That makes sense.”

Tesserina nodded.

As a dragon, it was magic she had absolutely no need for.

Without the aid of magic circles, magic would activate just by her holding intent alone. But humans were different.

Among magic-type Awakeneds, only a small number—especially those specialized in fire—could use this kind of heating magic.

It was a simple spell, but a privilege enjoyed only by a few.

Neo Seoul had popularized and distributed it.

That kind of popularization was precisely what made Neo Seoul remarkable.

As long as you had money, anyone could enjoy food like this even in the middle of the desert.

Of course, earning the money was a separate issue.

When she opened the lid of the container, perfectly cooked food revealed itself.

“Thanks for the meal.”

“Yes! Sis.”

Levin handed out combat lunches to the others as well.

Once their stamina had recovered somewhat, they, like Tesserina, were amazed by this new invention.

Liala sighed inwardly.

‘With creativity like this, El Harun will never be able to catch up to Neo Seoul.’

A feeling of regret naturally arose.

Because she had a premonition that this gap would never narrow in the future either.

“Wow!”

“This is really delicious.”

“How can it taste this good?”

Uslan and his subordinates couldn’t stop marveling as they ate the combat rations.

It was so good that it made their eyes widen.

Seeing their reaction, Levin wore a satisfied smile.

Levin was in charge of supplies for Zeon’s group.

Zeon and Brielle had far larger subspaces, but they rarely prepared food themselves.

Because Levin handled it all.

As a result, even in everyday circumstances, about half of Levin’s subspace was filled with food.

It was enough to survive for months in the desert without starving.

What Levin cared about most was securing delicious food.

Filling it entirely with food made by Old Man Klexi would be ideal, but he couldn’t make everything. So in his spare time, Levin would go around searching for tasty food.

Just as Levin and the others were nearly finished eating, Zeon descended.

However, his expression wasn’t very bright.

“What’s wrong, hyung?”

“If you’re done eating, let’s move.”

“What happened?”

“There’s a battle going on in the distance.”

“Got it, hyung!”

Levin stuffed every last bit of remaining food into his mouth and jumped to his feet.

The others also sprang up and prepared to depart.

Tesserina asked Zeon,

“Do you know who’s fighting?”

“It’s too far to tell. Let’s hurry.”

“Okay!”

They immediately set off toward where the battle was taking place.

The battlefield was so far away that it had barely been visible from high in the sky.

Because of that, it took them a full hour to reach it.

When Levin arrived at the battlefield, he was shocked.

Because countless corpses were already strewn across the ground.

Among them, he spotted familiar faces.

“These people are definitely—”

“They’re my comrades. Awakeneds from the Steel Fortress.”

Duran confirmed their identities.

The battlefield wasn’t filled only with the bodies of Steel Fortress Awakeneds.

The corpses of large dwarves and beastkin could also be seen here and there.

Liala identified them.

“They’re Giant Dwarves and Beastkin. There are giants over there too.”

“The most underhanded bastards are all gathered here.”

“These sons of bitches….”

The Awakeneds who came with her ground their teeth.

The races that had clashed most frequently with humans in El Harun were dwarves and beastkin.

Instead of pity, the thought that they deserved it came first.

After scanning the area, Zeon pointed in a certain direction.

“It looks like they moved that way while continuing the fight.”

He began moving, following the traces left on the ground.

The group hurried after him.

“Kraaagh!”

“Kuhk!”

Not far from where the bodies lay, they found people locked in fierce combat.

“Huuk! Huuk! I’ll kill every last one of you!”

There, Urtian was rampaging, drenched in blood.

Repo, who was fighting him intensely, spoke with an expression of incomprehension.

“Why do you fight for humans?”

“What are you saying, tiger-head?”

“I don’t understand why an elf would side with humans. If you’re an elf, shouldn’t you naturally stand with us?”

“What kind of bullshit is that?”

“I came from El Harun.”

“So what?”

“There are many elves in El Harun. Your own kin are with us. What you’re doing now is betraying your people.”

“Kin? Don’t make me laugh! What have elves ever done for me to be called my kin? Those bastards abandoned me when I was young just to save themselves.”

Urtian shouted as he swung his weapon.

Repo deflected the attack with his claws and said,

“And yet you side with humans? How foolish!”

“What’s foolish about it? These people are my family and my brothers. Shedding blood for them is an honorable act—never a foolish one.”

At Urtian’s desperate shout, the Awakeneds fighting nearby cried out.

“Fuck! Fighting and dying for your brothers is honorable!”

“For the captain, I’d gladly throw away this life!”

“We’re more honorable than scheming, underhanded bastards like you!”

At that, it was the elites from El Harun who became flustered.

They were all renowned experts from El Harun, but they couldn’t easily suppress the Steel Fortress Awakeneds who charged in, disregarding their own lives.

Among the Steel Fortress Awakeneds were many elves. They sided with humans without the slightest hesitation.

That sight only confused Repo and the others even more.

“What is this?”

“Elves siding with humans? They’ve lost their identity.”

At that moment, new figures entering the battlefield came into Repo’s view.

“Who are they?”

They were Zeon’s group.

The instant he recognized Zeon’s face, Repo felt as though his heart dropped.

The one who had inflicted indelible humiliation upon El Harun was Zeon.

El Harun had betrayed Zeon, whom he had saved from the Black Queen.

If they had at least betrayed and killed him, that would have been something—but Zeon had calmly slipped from their grasp.

After that, the name “Zeon” became a taboo word in El Harun.

“How is Zeon here?”

As urgency appeared on his face—

“So you’re Zeon. I’ll deal with you myself.”

Lamor of the giant race burned with fighting spirit as he looked at Zeon.

When Zeon was in El Harun, Lamor had been elsewhere on other business.

Lamor’s body was nearly six meters tall.

In terms of pure strength, Lamor was evaluated as being even stronger than their leader, Krudu.

Naturally, he held immense pride in his power and strength.

“I’ll tear you to pieces, Sand Mage! Kwoooaaar!”

Roaring, Lamor charged at Zeon.

Thud!

The massive body, nearly six meters tall, kicked off the ground and leapt high into the air.

Reaching dozens of meters in height, Lamor came crashing down toward Zeon at terrifying speed.

“Sand Blaster!”

Papapapaboom!

The moment Zeon finished speaking, dozens of Sand Blasters detonated consecutively against Lamor.

Each shot wasn’t particularly powerful on its own, but taking dozens in succession delivered no small shock.

“Krrgh!”

In the end, he failed to reach Zeon and plummeted to the ground.

Gaaang!

Centered on where Lamor fell, the sand began to spin violently.

Zeon had deployed Sand Mixer.

Pakakakang!

As his body, harder than steel, collided with the violently rotating sand, sparks flew in all directions.

“This much won’t be enough to deal with me.”

Boom!

Slamming both hands into the ground like a gorilla, Lamor used the recoil to wrench himself free of the Sand Mixer.

Landing on the ground, Lamor tried to ram Zeon with his massive torso. But Zeon had no intention of accepting his attack head-on.

Dozens of reinforced Sand Soldiers blocked his path.

“Get out of my way!”

Lamor roared and swung his fist.

Boom! Kwang!

With a single punch, one Sand Soldier exploded.

It was truly terrifying power, but it didn’t make much of an impression on Zeon.

If they broke, he could just summon them again.

Dozens of Sand Soldiers clung to Lamor.

“Tch!”

Lamor smashed Sand Soldiers left and right, but even more rose from the sand and swarmed over him.

Thud! Thud!

Eventually, with Sand Soldiers hanging all over him, Lamor tried to walk toward Zeon.

If he could just kill Zeon, these sand soldiers would surely collapse in an instant.

Zeon decided to give Lamor a gift.

The flames of hell.

“White Phosphorus.”

The moment his words ended, pure white flames leapt onto Lamor’s body.

“Kraaaaagh!”

A desperate scream echoed across the desert.