Blue Leaf Special Forces
The women were all slender like models. But their attack power far surpassed that of ordinary Awakeners.
Though they appeared empty-handed at first, small bows had suddenly materialized in their grips.
These were specially crafted items.
Small enough to match a child's torso in size, they could be folded for easy storage. Made from monster bones and tendons for the frame and string, they possessed tremendous elasticity.
The arrows were fashioned from monster bones as well, enchanted to boost penetration.
Shhh!
The women loosed arrows at Zeon and Briel.
Zeon and Briel flung themselves in opposite directions to evade. But the arrows shifted trajectories as if they had eyes of their own, doggedly pursuing the pair.
Zeon fired off Fire Missiles to intercept them.
Boom! Boom!
The arrows burst like fireworks amid the explosions.
Briel, meanwhile, unleashed her magic.
"Hup! Barrier!"
With a sharp cry, a translucent membrane shimmered into existence before her.
Bang! Bang!
The arrows slammed into the barrier and detonated.
"Impressive skills. But not enough to slip away from the Blue Leaf Special Forces."
The woman in the bowler hat murmured coldly.
These women, whom she called the Blue Leaf Special Forces, were anything but ordinary.
Their senses were several times keener than a normal human's, and rigorous training had pushed their movements beyond mortal limits.
Like a swarm of bees, they whirled around Zeon and Briel at terrifying speeds, unleashing volley after volley of arrows.
Shhh!
Zeon's gaze turned icy.
He could tell these weren't shots meant merely to wound. They were fired with lethal intent.
The power infused in those arrows was formidable.
Zeon had no choice but to summon more of his strength.
Fire Missiles rained out without pause.
Kwa-kwang!
Arrows erupted in blasts right before him, like a fireworks display.
The bowler-hatted woman watched and muttered.
"A fire-type Awakener, it seems. Talent like that's wasted in the slums. Such a pity."
She had already resolved to kill Zeon and Briel.
Levin and the man were far too valuable.
Levin was a rare-type Awakener, and the murderer held crucial evidence.
She couldn't relinquish either.
If rival factions learned they had them, covetous eyes would turn their way.
The surest way to guard a secret: eliminate the witnesses.
The bowler-hatted woman lived by that creed.
She figured Zeon and Briel would drop soon. But reality diverged from her expectations.
Zeon's movements shifted abruptly.
Turning from defense to offense, his speed and ferocity outstripped the women's.
Bang!
"Kyaaak!"
One arrow-firing woman soared backward amid the blast.
Zeon's fist had cratered her abdomen.
The Superheat Gauntlet enabled fire magic, but it was a devastating weapon on its own. And Zeon wielded it masterfully.
Dayton had forged him in fire.
Even without drawing sand or casting flames, Zeon was mighty.
Tempered by Dayton, then seven years of merciless wandering and self-training.
His physical prowess rivaled any martial-type Awakener.
Bang!
"Agh!"
Another woman flew back in a thunderous boom.
Her eyes showed whites—her consciousness shattered.
Zeon hunted the next victim.
"Die!"
Ping ping ping!
The targeted woman unleashed a furious barrage.
A blistering rate of fire.
Four arrows struck Zeon's head, chest, and gut almost simultaneously. Yet he deflected them without a flicker of panic.
Clang! The arrows ricocheted off the Superheat Gauntlet.
The woman's eyes bulged.
Zeon loomed before her.
"No way..."
Bang!
His fist hammered her skull.
Her head held, but blood gushed from nose and mouth as she crumpled unconscious.
Zeon showed no mercy.
Gender meant nothing.
One strike, one felled.
The bowler-hatted woman's eyebrow twitched.
"Not magic-type after all—a martial-type?"
Even so, Zeon's prowess defied logic.
His blend of raw physicality and precise fire magic stunned her.
In seconds, the entire Blue Leaf Special Forces lay broken.
"Ughhh!"
"Aaak!"
These scream-proof elites groaned on the ground.
Simple punches, yet laced with searing fire essence.
Compressed and injected on impact.
The women writhed as if ablaze from within.
Burning agony—one of humanity's worst pains.
No training endured it.
In torment, their hats tumbled free.
"Elves, as expected."
Pointed ears exposed.
The irrefutable mark of elves.
Even diluted bloodlines preserved it.
Briel wrinkled her nose.
"No wonder the scent felt familiar. Stinks of human taint."
Elves long immersed in human society reeked of it to their kin.
A scent elves despised.
For haughty High Elves like Briel, it was vile.
'They probably smell the same on me. My body's wrecked from brewing drugs.'
No returning to her pure days.
Briel bit her lip and tugged her conical hat low.
The leader woman doffed her bowler hat.
"Didn't peg the slums for hiding such a powerhouse Awakener. I'd have brought heavier backup if I had."
"Blue Leaf Special Forces, right? From the North District?"
"Correct."
She answered frankly.
Denial at this point was pointless.
"I'm Borlin Stravach. You?"
"Zeon!"
"Right, Zeon. As you suspected, I'm from the North District."
"Figured."
"Then you know your mistake."
"World gone wrong? Or elf mindset totally alien to humans? Who's really at fault? Kidnapping Levin without asking, trying to snatch the murderer."
"Had to, for the world's sake. No guilt there."
"Handy. Label your sins 'for the greater good' and you're golden. Mixed-blood elf survival tactic? Explains why Elharon bars you."
"Elharon? What's that?"
Borlin scowled.
Zeon furrowed his brow.
'She doesn't even know the heteromorph city exists. Do outcast elves stay ignorant? Or do the higher-ups suppress info on the lower levels?'
No way to know yet.
Zeon snapped curtly.
"Don't know? Then drop it."
"Hah! You've got a knack for riling folks up."
"You're no human."
"We're just like— No. Why am I even justifying this?"
"Scared."
"What?"
"Fear makes people chatty."
"This Borlin, scared? Don't insult me. Elves never cower."
"Then why yap? I'd have charged by now."
Zeon's taunt snapped her restraint.
Ting!
Reason frayed.
She was already lunging when awareness returned.
True to her special forces captain rank, Borlin brimmed with power.
Elven agility fused with wind skills.
B-rank magic-type Awakener.
That was Borlin.
"Wind Cutter!"
She whispered, hurling it at Zeon.
Whiiing!
Wind skills were devilish—invisible to the eye.
Like wind itself, no trace.
Dodge by instinct, not sight.
Low-ranks and greenhorns dreaded them most.
Not Zeon.
He sensed it vividly, seen or not.
Pachang!
Gauntlet-backed hand swatted the Wind Cutter aside.
Borlin gnashed her teeth, chaining the next.
"Tornado Breath."
Wind vortex hurtled at Zeon with savage spin.
A shredder of all in its path—devastating force.
Her ultimate skill.
Normal attacks wouldn't cut it; this was all-out.
Kwa-kwa-kwa!
The Tornado Breath ravaged everything en route to Zeon.
Briel gasped.
"Ah! Danger—"
She pictured Zeon shredded. Pure fancy.
No Zeon in the tornado's wake.
Briel's eyes widened.
"When did he...?"
Zeon stood behind Borlin.
He'd blurred past their perception.
Zeon raised a hand.
"Fire Rain!"
Immense firestorm plummeted from the heavens.
Meteor barrage hammered Borlin relentlessly.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
The fiery deluge pummeled without mercy.
No gaps to slip through; Borlin threw up Wind Shield for defense.
Blazing rain battered the windy bulwark ceaselessly.
Endless shocks; Borlin bit her lip bloody.
'Mana's finite. Won't sustain this monster long.'
Massive skills guzzled mana.
Some drained Awakeners dry in one go.
Borlin banked on that. Wrong.
Fire Rain raged on.
Crack crack!
Borlin's mana cracked first.
Shield faltered, fissured.
"Ah, no!"
Scream echoed as it shattered.
Infernal rain engulfed her.
Bullets of flame riddled her body.
"Aaak!"
She collapsed screaming from the onslaught.
Zeon finally ceased Fire Rain.
Borlin was surprisingly whole.
Her barabaricoat—deceptively normal, but laced with protective magic.
One-time shield spell saved her life.
"Ugh!"
Alive, but shock-locked immobile.
Zeon knelt before her, locking eyes.
"Now, let's have that talk. You seem prepped."