Chapter 373

Chapter 373

BOOOOOM!

Like a volcanic eruption, the earth exploded, and a massive rock mountain suddenly jutted up before the Black Forest.

“What is that?!”

“Urgh!”

The Awakened and dark elves reeled in shock at the sudden appearance of the rocky mass.

A stone mountain in the middle of a desert made of sand was unthinkable.

It wasn’t a mountain—it was a beast.

A monster with a massive body rivaling that of the moving fortress Arkelon.

A monster that looked like a crocodile inflated a thousandfold, its body composed entirely of stone.

THUD! THUD!

The rocky crocodile barreled straight toward the Black Forest.

SPLAT!

SCREEE!

Countless monsters were crushed and pulverized beneath its body.

Just as large monsters trampled small ones, the rocky crocodile trampled even the largest of beasts.

To it, large monsters were no more than flies.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Every time it moved, massive craters formed in the sand.

“What kind of monster is that?!”

“A creature made of rock?!”

Even the Awakened and dark elves were thrown into confusion, unable to identify it.

Not even in Kurayan had such a creature ever been seen.

It resembled a golem, but none had ever heard of one so massive.

“Could it be a new species of monster born on Earth?”

“Even so, that thing is...”

The dark elves stared at the rocky crocodile, visibly shaken.

Then Floa shouted,

“What are you doing?! Attack already!”

“Y-yes, ma’am!”

“Att-attack!”

Snapping out of their daze, the Awakened and dark elves unleashed their attacks on the creature approaching the Black Forest.

KWA-KWANG!

Powerful skills struck the rocky crocodile’s body, but it barely flinched.

At most, some outer rocks chipped off.

“This is insane!”

“How are we supposed to stop that?!”

Despair crept across the faces of the Awakened and dark elves.

Floa, still urging them on, clenched her teeth and launched herself forward.

‘I can’t just stand by. It must have a weakness somewhere.’

Landing on the rocky crocodile’s head, Floa slashed with her Aura Blade.

SHLICK! SHHHHLACK!

Chunks of stone flew with each strike—but the damage was negligible.

The rocky crocodile charged toward the Black Forest with Floa still riding its head.

Even the vast trench Zeon had created was little more than a stream to the beast.

In an instant, it crossed the trench.

‘Is this the end…?’

Despair flickered across Floa’s face.

The Black Forest was right before them.

She could see the newborn sprouts.

Just imagining them crushed beneath the monster’s feet brought tears to her eyes.

Then it happened.

“Get out of the way!”

Zeon’s voice rang in her ear.

Without hesitation, Floa kicked off the monster’s head and leapt into the air.

RUMBLE!

The sand beneath the rocky crocodile gave way.

The massive beast crashed straight into the collapsing pit of sand.

“Sir Zeon?!”

Floa’s face lit up.

Only Zeon could manipulate sand like that.

And just as she expected, the voice belonged to him.

Zeon appeared at the forest’s edge, his gaze coldly fixed on the rocky crocodile.

ROOOOAR!

The beast roared as it thrashed in the sand pit.

Zeon had weakened the cohesion of the sand, causing it to keep sliding—but it was only a matter of time before the monster climbed out.

If it made it to the top, the Black Forest would be trampled beyond recognition.

It had to be stopped before then.

“A crocodile fused with a golem…?”

Just like a dying whale had once fused with a spirit to become Moby Dick, this creature seemed a fusion of a crocodile and a golem.

The difference was that Moby Dick had a complete consciousness—this one had only instinct.

There was no light of awareness or life in its eyes.

It moved like a crocodile, but was merely a golem in body.

The rocky crocodile had no soul.

That’s why it came here.

To devour a newborn spirit.

A spirit—the purest form of life.

In some ways, the closest thing to a soul.

If it could devour and absorb a spirit, the rocky crocodile could gain a soul of its own.

No one had taught it this—but it seemed to know it instinctively.

The rocky crocodile’s gaze locked onto Zeon.

From those inorganic eyes burned rage.

It knew—

That Zeon was its greatest obstacle.

BOOOM!

With a thunderous blast, the beast’s stony shell exploded, launching shards of rock.

It had fired its outer stone plates like missiles.

Hundreds of boulder-sized stones rained down toward Zeon.

“Damn it!”

Zeon gritted his teeth.

Dodging them wasn’t hard for him.

But if he dodged, the rocks would obliterate the Black Forest behind him.

The newly sprouted forest would be destroyed.

That worst-case scenario had to be avoided at all costs.

“Hyaah!”

Zeon unleashed his Sand Blasters.

Dozens, then hundreds of sand blasts shot upward to intercept the boulders.

But mere sand couldn’t stop or divert stones hundreds of times heavier.

So Zeon timed each blast to explode upon impact.

Thanks to the Inferno Gauntlet, it was possible.

BOOM!

BANG!

As each Sand Blaster collided, it detonated.

The blasts shattered the stones or altered their trajectories.

In midair, a chain of explosions erupted.

Stone fragments scattered in every direction.

But miraculously, the Black Forest remained unharmed.

RAAAAH!

The rocky crocodile roared and pushed its head out of the pit.

After launching the stones, it had crawled upward.

Its massive eyes met Zeon’s just ahead.

An empty gaze of an incomplete being.

Zeon could now understand why the beast sought the spirit.

But understanding didn’t mean forgiveness.

They needed the spirit too.

A symbol of the new era—he couldn’t let such a creature have it.

“We’re desperate too.”

Inferno GauntletSnap.Inferno Gauntlet

Zeon snapped his fingers.

WHOOOSH!

The sand beneath the beast began to spin.

As it turned, the crocodile—nearly out of the pit—was pulled back down.

The whirling sand wrapped around it violently.

This was Sand Mixer, capable of grinding most monsters into bloody pulp in seconds.

But against the rocky crocodile’s stone body, it barely worked.

SPARK! SPARK!

Sparks flew as the surface was scraped—but barely a sliver of its bulk was damaged.

ROOOOAR!

The monster thrashed, trying to break free.

Zeon hadn’t expected Sand Mixer alone to stop it.

“But with Sand Gehenna—it’s a different story.”

As soon as he spoke, the sand around the beast began to melt.

BUBBLE…!

The viscous molten sand boiled like lava.

Superheated, it began to melt the creature’s body.

But the rocky crocodile kept walking—unfazed.

THUD! THUD!

It didn’t feel pain.

Even as its body melted, its movement remained unaffected.

And being made of rock, the melting was slow.

Barely a third of its legs had melted when it began emerging from Sand Gehenna.

If it escaped, the Black Forest would face disaster.

Zeon raised his control and made Sand Gehenna rotate.

Like a Sand Mixer, but now with molten lava.

The lava churned furiously, gripping the creature tighter.

As it nearly escaped, it was dragged back in.

The superheated lava rapidly melted its legs.

ROOOOAR!

The beast writhed—but the more it struggled, the deeper it sank.

Soon, its legs were submerged completely, with only its head and upper body above the surface.

It was just a matter of time.

But Zeon didn’t relax.

It was an S-rank monster.

Incomplete and soulless as it was, no such creature would simply wait to die.

And as expected—

The rocky crocodile lifted its head and stared up at Zeon.

Its inorganic eyes glowed with rage.

A tidal wave of hatred surged toward him.

Enough to shatter the will of an ordinary Awakened.

BOOOM!

The creature’s eyes flared red—and its enormous body exploded.

Its mountain-sized form burst apart, and car-sized boulders flew toward the forest.

Much larger and stronger than the previous attack.

“What the—?!”

Even Zeon, prepared as he was, hadn’t expected the beast to self-destruct.

And it didn’t make sense.

It would rather die just to take Zeon with it?

That went against everything Zeon knew about monster instincts.

Then—

Thud! Thud!

From the exploded fragments, four legs and a tail emerged.

A long face formed.

It was a small rocky crocodile—dozens of times smaller than before.

“Not suicide… division?”

It had shrunk itself to escape Sand Gehenna.

The size was reduced, but now there were hundreds of them.

Not a bad trade for the monster.

The tiny rocky crocodiles wriggled across the ground, inching toward the Black Forest.

“Damn it! Stop them!”

“Shit! There’s too many!”

“Die!”

The Awakened and dark elves scrambled to intercept them.

They may have shrunk, but they were still the size of mid-tier monsters.

And their rocky bodies were tough—most attacks barely scratched them.

Using their sheer numbers and durability, the swarm surged toward the forest.

The defense line crumbled.

But just then—

An enormous army of soldiers rose from the sand.

It was one of Zeon’s skills: Sand Soldiers.

To match numbers with numbers.

That was Zeon’s answer.

“Go!”

RUMBLE!

Hundreds of Sand Soldiers surged toward the rocky crocodile swarm like a tidal wave.

BOOOOM!

A ferocious battle erupted.