Chapter 492

Chapter 492

“Impudent wretch!”

Tamulana’s eyes twitched violently.

Even after taking a direct hit from the Fire Missile, not a single scratch marked her body.

The blessing of the god was shielding her.

A spell of that level couldn’t so much as leave a blemish on her skin.

But it was more than enough to sour her mood.

“You still have the nerve to act bold.”

“As expected—something like that won’t even make you flinch.”

Zeon nodded as if he had already anticipated the result.

Crack!

In the same instant, a black soldier seized Zeon’s right hand and snapped every one of his fingers.

Zeon’s face twisted in agony.

“This is the price for casting spells without permission, Zeon.”

“Agh!”

“Use magic again, and I’ll make sure you can’t use your left hand either. If you want to test me, be my guest.”

“I’m not crazy enough to find out.”

Zeon shook his head.

Perhaps unsatisfied with his attitude, Tamulana took several steps back before speaking.

“How did you enter the god’s barrier? Those who lack permission can’t possibly pass through.”

Her gaze suddenly fell to Zeon’s wrist.

The moment she noticed the bracelet fastened around it, her expression contorted into something feral.

“The bracelet Narha wore…? That wretch betrayed me. Filthy creature—how dare she repay my sacrifice for the High Elves with betrayal? I’ll find her and rip her limb from limb.”

“Calm yourself. Someone who serves a god shouldn’t be using language like that, don’t you think?”

“What do you know, spewing such insolence? Why have you come here? If it’s to hinder the descent of the god, then you’ve wasted your time. The will of a god isn’t something a mere human can obstruct.”

“The descent of a god… Are you planning to resurrect Lady Cielra into this world?”

“Yes. With my own hands, I shall prepare a place for Lady Cielra to dwell upon this earth. That is my true purpose.”

“You’re insane.”

“Insane? Me?”

“Yes. You’re completely mad. You just haven’t noticed yet.”

“You must be desperate for death.”

Malice clung thickly to Tamulana’s voice.

She couldn’t comprehend him.

Dragged in by the black soldiers, completely overpowered, yet he remained far too composed.

His right hand was ruined, but he still spoke freely.

That alone was something no High Elf could have done.

And she hated it.

“Beat him until that arrogance breaks.”

The moment the command left her lips, the black soldiers set upon Zeon without hesitation.

Thud! Wham!

They held back not a shred of force.

They simply carried out Tamulana’s order with machine-like obedience.

Zeon’s face swelled grotesquely, his skin splitting open with every blow.

He was reduced to a wreck.

Yet not once did he let out a groan, and that only enraged Tamulana further.

“Harder. I want to hear him beg for his life.”

Boom! Crash!

The black soldiers dutifully obeyed.

Curled like a shrimp, Zeon endured their attacks, shielding his face with both arms as he muttered:

‘Hurry and find them.’

The moment he first clashed with the black soldiers, he realized it.

They were not ordinary living beings.

Just like his own Sand Soldiers, the black soldiers were mentally tethered to Tamulana.

Their senses and sight were shared with her.

No matter how many were spread throughout the barrier, the instant anything suspicious happened, Tamulana would know.

He had to hold her attention.

He had to bait her so she wouldn’t look elsewhere.

And the bait… was himself.

While her focus remained fixed on him, the others needed to rescue Brielle and the High Elves.

So he provoked her.

And paid the price with merciless violence.

But Zeon never once regretted it.

Thud! Thump!

The soldiers’ fists and boots continued to rain down upon him.

Levin, in a ghosted state, swept through the High Elf village.

Black soldiers emerged from a side alley and entered his field of vision.

Levin immediately drifted upward, rising to a height where their line of sight couldn’t reach.

Even in a ghosted form, he couldn’t vanish completely.

Fortunately, the black soldiers passed beneath him without noticing his presence.

But it was far too early to feel relieved.

Moments later, more black soldiers appeared.

‘Tch!’

Levin clicked his tongue.

At this rate, it was only a matter of time before he was discovered.

For now, their gaze didn’t reach him—but if even one of them casually looked up, he’d be spotted instantly.

‘I have to find Brielle quickly.’

Suspended in the air, Levin searched for any sign that might indicate where she’d been taken.

‘Brielle would have left something behind. Definitely.’

She had spent as much time with Zeon as he had, and she knew survival tactics inside and out.

There was no way she would have been taken without leaving a trace.

And then—he saw it.

A faint, familiar mark at the entrance of a small home: a smear of blue.

‘Brielle left this. No doubt.’

As an alchemist, Brielle had created all sorts of unusual things.

Among them was a special dye forged from the blood of magical beasts.

Originally, it had been intended to coat cloaks and robes, to distort an enemy’s vision.

Like an invisibility item, in theory.

But her experiment had failed spectacularly—the color was so vivid it drew monsters’ attention instead.

So she had shelved the research and stuffed the dye away in the subspace of her pointed hat.

Levin knew this well—he had been right beside her at the time.

‘Good work, Brielle.’

Without hesitation, Levin slipped silently into the house.

Inside, he immediately noticed a passage descending underground.

‘She has to be down here.’

And so Levin plunged into the underground corridor.

A foreboding energy filled the air.

‘How… how could a High Elf village have something like this?’

Brielle had always told him:

Her homeland was barren, yes, but filled with pure, pleasant energy. That was why the High Elves settled here.

But this place…

There wasn’t even the faintest trace of that purity.

Only a suffocating, ominous aura.

It was the complete opposite of her words.

Then—

Shhhk!

Something shot out from the far end of the corridor and passed straight through Levin’s ghosted body.

Thud!

A long spear embedded itself into the ground behind him, its shaft still quivering violently.

Had he been solid, he would have been skewered through the torso.

A cold shiver rippled down his spine.

‘I’ve been spotted.’

As if to confirm his suspicion, heavy footsteps echoed from deep within the tunnel.

Moments later, black soldiers emerged—charging straight at him.

In that instant, bolts of Purple Lightning erupted from Levin’s body.

Crackle!

The violet current engulfed the black soldiers in a heartbeat.

Boom! Boom-boom!

Their bodies burst apart one after another, painting the ground with scattered remnants.

Levin shook off his hands with a flick and muttered:

“Pathetic things…”

But he couldn’t finish the sentence.

Because something impossible was happening before his eyes.

The remains of the black soldiers…

were piecing themselves back together.

As though assembling a puzzle, the broken fragments merged—eventually restoring the soldiers to their original, intact forms.

“Still think we’re ‘pathetic’?”

Shhhh!

At his remark, the black soldiers swung their weapons at him.

“Hmph. Do you really think those toys can hurt me?”

He was already ghosted.

Ordinary weapons or skills couldn’t harm him—but Levin still moved to evade.

Even so, he couldn’t dodge everything.

A blade from one of the rear soldiers grazed Levin’s side.

Ssshhh!

“Gah!”

A searing pain tore through him.

A wound had been carved into his ghosted form.

“That’s… impossible.”

Levin’s eyes trembled.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

The soldier’s blade shimmered with a sinister energy—an aura distinctly visible even from a distance.

At first glance, it resembled an Aura Blade used by rare martial awakeners…

but the nature of the energy was entirely different.

An Aura Blade maximized cutting force.

This energy, however, seeped into Levin’s ghosted form, delivering internal corruption and damage.

Swish!

The soldier attacked again.

Levin barely dodged, retreating hurriedly—and the other black soldiers followed up with sweeping strikes.

His eyes widened.

At some point, every one of their weapons had been coated in that same eerie energy.

“What the hell are you things…?!”

It wasn’t one or two of them.

Every black soldier had gained the ability to harm him.

Shing! Shing! Shing!

Attacks rained down like a storm.

Forced into a defensive retreat, Levin found himself pressed back—until every strike converged upon him at once.

“Fine. Let’s see how you handle this.”

Crackle!

An overwhelming surge of power erupted from his entire body—far beyond anything he’d unleashed before.

Blinding light burst forth, devouring the corridor.

This was Giga Lightning.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

The massive current surged through the black soldiers, detonating them violently.

This time, nothing remained.

No fragments, no residue—only scorched walls and the burnt, acrid stench of charred flesh.

“Haa… haa…!”

It had drained him completely.

For a brief moment, Levin was utterly exhausted.

But despite obliterating them, he didn’t let down his guard.

If they revived again like before… he was finished.

But they didn’t.

They were gone—truly, permanently gone.

Only then did Levin release the breath he’d been holding.

“Haaah… So I have to use maximum output just to erase them? Monsters…”

Not once had the soldiers made a sound—not even as they died.

A normal living being would never act like that.

And who knew how many more lurked deeper in the complex?

Levin steeled himself.

Prepared to unleash Giga Lightning at any moment, he pressed on.

But to his relief, no other black soldiers appeared.

He had enough time to recover his mana and stamina in full.

Eventually, Levin reached the end of the corridor—a vast underground chamber.

Waiting for him there were robed priests… and a black cocoon.

No one had to tell him.

The moment he laid eyes on it, he knew Brielle was inside.

“Brielle!”

His shout echoed across the chamber.

And in answer—the cocoon trembled.

Vwooom!

Brielle was responding from within.

A small smile tugged at Levin’s lips.

“Knew you were still alive. Hold on— I’ll get you out right now.”

His gaze turned to the priests encircling the cocoon.

“How dare a mere human enter our village? Unforgivable!”

“Die!”

The priests launched their attack.

In response, Levin unleashed Giga Lightning at full output.

Crackle!

A blinding burst of white lightning swallowed the priests whole—vaporizing them instantly.