Chapter 375

Chapter 375

Even though the sun blazed overhead, a chill swept through the air.

Not only the human Awakened, but even the dark elves felt their hair stand on end and a shiver crawl down their spines.

“What the hell...?”

“Who is that guy…?”

They were warriors who had survived their whole lives fighting in the desert.

No ordinary event could shake them, and they never flinched even before the mightiest of monsters. But at the sight of this man, their bodies froze. They couldn't move.

They were completely overwhelmed by the strange atmosphere radiating from him.

Even Levin and Brielle, floating in midair, had gone pale and couldn’t react.

The only one free to move was Zeon.

His body slowly rose into the air.

The sand was lifting him.

Zeon came to a stop at the same height as the man.

The man tilted his head slightly and murmured,

“Stubborn, aren’t you? Well, confidence is good and all, but you ought to know who you're dealing with first.”

BOOM!

Before the man even finished speaking, an explosion rang out from Zeon’s position.

An unseen force had attacked Zeon.

Shockwave.

It was an offensive spell cast by the man.

A spell of immense destructive power.

Especially devastating against humans, Shockwave wasn’t a spell one could unleash lightly. Its power came with a price—casting delay. But the man had invoked it without a single sign.

Something no ordinary human could do.

The man had been sure that Zeon would be at least moderately injured. But the moment he saw Zeon, the faint smile on his lips vanished.

Zeon stood completely unharmed.

There were no signs of damage, no look of surprise.

He merely stared at the man with calm indifference, as if watching a cow stare at a chicken.

The sight of Zeon made the man feel a chill in his blood.

“So… this is the Sand Mage. To think he could neutralize Shockwave by vibrating the sand in that brief moment.”

Shockwave was a sonic attack.

The best way to nullify a sonic attack was to produce a counter-frequency in the same range. And Zeon had done just that—vibrating the sand particles around him to emit canceling waves.

It was an unbelievable reaction speed for a human.

The man swept back his hood and said,

“My name is Kalinan. Yours?”

“I’m Zeon.”

“Good! Zeon, you’re worthy of conversation.”

Removing his hat, Kalinan looked straight at Zeon.

His face was as finely sculpted as porcelain.

With dark golden hair, golden eyes, and especially prominent pointed ears.

Zeon immediately recognized what he was.

“You’re an elf.”

“I used to be.”

“You’re denying your past?”

“Let’s just say… the present has changed.”

“So you were born an elf but no longer are? Is that how I should understand it?”

“You’re quite clever for a human.”

Kalinan made a face of impressed surprise.

“I get that a lot, Kalinan.”

“A sand mage, huh? Be proud of that. Not even in Kurayan was there such an Awakened.”

“Thanks.”

“No need to thank me. You’re going to die by my hand anyway.”

“Before that, let me ask one thing. You’re the one who gave that bone necklace to Chuangkar, right?”

“So you’re the one who killed that old orc.”

Zeon had sensed Kalinan’s existence through the bone necklace, and Kalinan had come here chasing the one who killed Chuangkar.

Their meeting was inevitable.

Kalinan looked past Zeon to Hahr and the spirit.

More precisely—he was salivating at the spirit.

“I should thank you. Thanks to you killing that old orc, I found this spirit.”

“Yuri’s already soul-bound with Hahr. Isn’t it a bit shameless to still covet her?”

“That so-called soul bond can be severed. Just hand over the spirit, and I’ll let you live.”

“You remind me of someone.”

“What nonsense are you spouting now?”

“Nigel, the half-dragon.”

“…”

“So you know him. I was just fishing, but it landed.”

Zeon’s eyes glinted coldly.

Kalinan and Nigel were oddly similar.

Different species, builds, and auras—nothing was the same. Yet they somehow mirrored each other.

Kalinan’s golden eyes flashed.

“How do you know Nigel? Where did you see him?”

“What’s your relationship to him?”

“Answer me, human! Before I tear you to shreds!”

“You answer me first.”

“You insolent human! Do you know who you’re speaking to?!”

“A mutated elf?”

“What did you say?”

“Just like Nigel, you must’ve changed due to something. Maybe… a certain violet gem?”

“…”

Kalinan said nothing more.

And that was all the answer Zeon needed.

Nigel had said the same thing.

He was a dragon—speaking in the past tense.

He had chosen to abandon his dragon body and become a half-dragon.

Under normal circumstances, that was impossible.

A being discarding its species’ limits and reinventing itself on its own? If that were possible, even the dragon Hyltun, whom Dyoden once fought, would’ve shed his form long ago.

Not even Hyltun could do it by his own power.

So Nigel and Kalinan shouldn’t have been able to either.

Unless, of course, they’d received help from something—or someone—extraordinary.

That’s when Zeon remembered the necromancer Pilgrim.

Though Nigel had killed him, Pilgrim possessed abnormally powerful magic.

His undead defied all common sense.

Nigel had retrieved a violet gem from Pilgrim’s chest. So Zeon had concluded:

The gem must’ve been what gave Pilgrim his unnatural strength.

Otherwise, why would Nigel go out of his way to retrieve it personally?

And so, all signs pointed to one conclusion—

The violet gem was the key.

Those who bore it surpassed the limits of their race.

Zeon asked,

“That violet gem… is it connected to Krasias?”

“You’re really something. Just how much do you know?”

“Nigel asked me—‘Do you really believe Krasias is dead?’ A being as powerful as him wouldn’t say that lightly. So yes… the gem must be tied to Krasias.”

“You’re smart. Of all the humans I’ve met, you’re by far the brightest.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

“It’s not a compliment. It’s a declaration of war—I’m going to kill you.”

“I see.”

Even when Kalinan declared his intent to kill him, Zeon replied calmly. As if it didn’t concern him.

Kalinan’s golden eyebrows twitched.

He didn’t like Zeon’s attitude.

Kalinan was an elf from Kurayan.

Very few in Kurayan knew of him. That’s how long he’d lived—so long that nearly all memory of him had faded.

Even after coming to Earth, he lived alone.

Age had dulled his ambitions, and he had grown to dislike inconvenience.

Even interacting with other elves had become a bother. So he wandered the desert alone.

Until one day—his fate changed.

He found the violet gem Zeon had spoken of.

That day, he transcended the limits of an elf and was reborn.

Just like Nigel.

Originally, Kalinan had little desire.

But ever since absorbing the violet gem, his greed burned.

If he desired something, he had to have it. If he hated something, he destroyed it completely.

That was why he had given Chuangkar the bone necklace.

He’d infused the necklace with a fraction of his power to strengthen the orcs—to destroy what he hated.

But Zeon had crushed those plans.

Naturally, Kalinan didn’t think fondly of him.

“You broke my toy, so now I’ll take something precious from you.”

“Go ahead—if you can.”

“Arrogant. You’re worthy of confidence, yes, but even that should know its limits.”

“Did you know?”

“Know what?”

“Nigel said the same things. Just like you. He spoke a lot—looked down on others as if he were a god. That gem… it must give people a serious god complex.”

“You insolent—!”

Kalinan’s lips twitched.

Zeon’s provocation had struck a nerve.

Suddenly, golden light burst from Kalinan’s eyes—and another Shockwave exploded forth.

SHRAAANG!

“GAAH!”

“AHHH!”

Everyone in the Black Forest clutched their ears and collapsed.

Their eardrums rang, their brains throbbed as if struck like a bell.

They couldn’t stay conscious.

Even Floa’s eyes lost focus, and drool streamed from her lips—despite not being hit directly.

Zeon, again, vibrated the sand particles to nullify the Shockwave.

But this time, his face darkened.

He had taken a solid hit.

His insides twisted and blood surged upward.

The tremendous shock had battered his organs.

At that moment, Kalinan shot into the sky.

He soared high—so high the Black Forest looked like a patch of moss below.

Then he murmured,

“I’ll shatter it all at once. Wide Area Spallation.”

WHOOOONG—

Sound echoed across the sky.

The air around the Black Forest screamed.

It was as if the entire forest had been sealed in a giant bell—the sound enclosed it completely.

The vibrations multiplied—dozens, hundreds of times over.

Ultrasonic waves, inaudible to the human ear, pounded the Black Forest.

“AAAGH!”

“P-please…!”

Every living being in the forest cried out.

Their insides were boiling.

Just like food in a microwave, the ultrasonic waves caused the fluids inside their bodies to boil violently.

In mere seconds, their bodies would burst from within.

Then—Zeon moved.

“HYAAAH!”

At his shout, the sand of the earth erupted upward.

WOOOONG!

Dusty sand particles collided and vibrated against each other.

Using the same technique that had blocked Shockwave—now on a wide scale.

Sound consumed sound. The sound waves boiling the forest vanished.

And in their place, silence fell.

Kalinan’s expression contorted in disbelief.

He hadn’t expected this.

But the real surprise was yet to come.

—Beep!

From the empty sky, a giant whale head poked out.

Gaia had awakened.

Having digested the Scythe of the Reaper, Gaia was now several times larger than before.

She raised her head and looked at Kalinan.

—Beep?

“He’s our enemy.”

—Beep!

Gaia’s eyes turned fierce.

With Zeon on her back, she rocketed into the sky.

Kalinan’s face rapidly expanded in Zeon’s vision.

Zeon drew on his full power.

WHOOOOSH!

The sand swirled, launching Gaia with terrifying speed.

An elf who transcended his race?

So what?

“You were reborn as something new… but that doesn’t mean you don’t bleed.”

Fused with Gaia, Zeon charged straight at Kalinan with fearsome speed.