Chapter 134: Icy Wrath and Mystic Pulse
Behind his glasses, Yohan's eyes gleamed with cold light.
Standing behind him, Kim Jae-kyung kept her hands politely clasped, her head bowed low.
She didn't have the face to meet Yohan's gaze directly.
It was all because her attempt to brainwash the White Bear Caravan's greetings had failed, blowing the whole situation out of proportion.
That had earned them the caravan's enmity and turned them into a laughingstock for everyone.
But that wasn't the end of it.
Today, massive incidents had erupted one after another in Dongdaemun.
The first was that super supervisor from City Hall, Mandy, going on a rampage.
Dongdaemun had thrown countless Awakeners at her to subdue her, but the operation had failed spectacularly.
The Awakeners had all come back with injuries big and small, while Mandy sauntered out of Dongdaemun unscathed.
That alone had badly bruised their pride, but then an even bigger incident exploded in the plaza.
A battle had broken out between Awakeners, followed by a massive blast. The entire plaza had nearly been obliterated.
Fortunately, there were no casualties, but the string of events had thoroughly soured Yohan's mood.
Dongdaemun was his domain.
His kingdom, ruled for decades.
Today, that kingdom had been trampled and defiled.
To Yohan, it was an unbearable humiliation.
After a long silence, he finally spoke.
"Have you identified the ones who fought in the plaza?"
"One is confirmed as Zeon, and the other is an Awakener from the East District."
"Zeon and an East District Awakener?"
"Yes!"
"How little do they think of me..."
Yohan's jaw muscle twitched.
Anyone could come and go from Dongdaemun freely.
Neo Seoul was the same, and the slums had no barriers dividing the districts.
But each district enforced strict rules.
Breaking those rules or starting fights arbitrarily was tantamount to scorning the ruler.
Yohan turned to Kim Jae-kyung.
"What do you think?"
"We can't just let it slide."
"Shall we go to war with Shinchon, then?"
"Well..."
"Or declare war on the East District?"
"......"
Kim Jae-kyung clamped her mouth shut.
A war with Shinchon might be feasible, but war with the East District was out of the question.
There was an insurmountable gap between the slums and Neo Seoul.
And that applied to their Awakeners as well.
No way could the slums match Neo Seoul in numbers or quality.
No matter how strong Dongdaemun was, it couldn't compare to the East District.
War with them meant certain defeat.
The only remotely viable option was war with Zeon's Shinchon.
Even then, the losses would be heavy.
And the timing couldn't be worse.
With the White Bear Caravan incident, tensions were sky-high between Neo Seoul and the entire slums.
"If we pick a fight with Shinchon and weaken ourselves, we'll just become prey for the other factions."
"Ugh!"
"Filthy! It's been ages since I felt this tainted."
"I'm sorry. It's my failure..."
Kim Jae-kyung bowed her head lower.
Yohan stared at her intently.
Under his obsessive gaze, she squirmed even more uncomfortably.
After an agonizing stretch of time, Yohan spoke again.
"Accept the West District's proposal."
"Pardon?"
"Since things have come to this, we need to join hands with the West District and show them we're not to be trifled with. If we swallow this after incidents in my kingdom, the others will see us as utter fools."
Yohan's voice was ice-cold and sharp as a blade.
The room's temperature seemed to drop ten degrees in an instant.
Kim Jae-kyung shivered in the chilling atmosphere.
But Yohan wasn't done.
"You'll handle this."
"Understood."
"Don't fail this time. I won't spare you again."
"I'll make it succeed, no matter what."
Her voice trembled slightly.
This was her last chance.
Failure wouldn't just mean death.
It would bring torment worse than hell, haunting her forever.
Kim Jae-kyung bit her lip until it bled.
＊＊＊
Demian sat atop a fortress built from stacked cargo trucks, gazing at Neo Seoul.
Neo Seoul floated like an island in the desert sea.
Everything else in the world was shrouded in darkness, but only Neo Seoul shone brilliantly.
Towering skyscrapers pierced the massive walls, illuminated by dazzling lights.
A civilization humanity had long forgotten had been gloriously rebuilt.
The last city and fortress of mankind, accessible only to the chosen few.
That was Neo Seoul.
As expected, it wasn't easy for outsiders to enter and settle there.
You had to be an Awakener or possess comparable abilities.
A place where only the elect could live.
In a way, it was a utopia of the modern age.
At least, that's how it seemed to those like Demian and the White Bear Caravan, hardened by harsh environments.
But Demian knew better.
The reality of that utopia wasn't so beautiful.
It had been built on the corpses of countless people.
No one remembered their sacrifices.
Not even those living inside the city.
"Elves, dwarves, and other heteromorphs enjoying the civilization humanity painstakingly rebuilt. What an irony. The world turned to shit because of them, and my dad died for it."
A smile as dry as the desert winds curled on his lips.
Demian had never once forgotten the moment Bellov died.
His father Bellov had been betrayed and killed by Elharon's heteromorphs and humans.
The blood he'd spilled, his final ragged breaths—they were etched vividly in Demian's mind.
Those memories wouldn't fade until the day he died.
Seeing Neo Seoul brought Bellov to mind.
Thinking of Bellov naturally summoned thoughts of the heteromorphs.
And thoughts of them chilled his blood, filling him with seething hatred.
Demian spent a long while reining in those emotions.
Once he'd somewhat calmed his surging feelings, a voice called from behind.
"Demian!"
"Yes?"
As if his icy expression had never been, Demian flashed a smile in response.
Aleksandr approached his side.
"You weren't coming down, so I came up."
"Just admiring how beautiful the lights are."
"Neo Seoul? Spectacular, isn't it? Never seen anything like it in my life."
"It's amazing, right?"
"What is?"
"That it shines so brightly, yet monsters don't attack."
"True enough. Bizarre. It glows like that even at night—why do the monsters leave Neo Seoul alone?"
The desert teemed with monsters.
Just as ancient seas once brimmed with fish, now the sands crawled with them.
From the surface to underground, even the skies—they ruled it all.
Compared to that, humanity's territory was minuscule.
Monsters didn't let humans build domains unchallenged.
The moment humans erected anything conspicuous, monsters swarmed in.
That was their nature.
Akutsuk Colony's walls had crumbled multiple times in its early days because of it.
Each time, humans banded together, endured, and rebuilt.
Only after years of suffering did they complete the colony. But Akutsuk was tiny and shabby compared to Neo Seoul.
It wasn't strange.
Most colonies the White Bear Caravan had visited were like Akutsuk.
Big, flashy colonies drew monster attention.
They had to stay inconspicuous as possible.
That was why other colonies never exceeded medieval scales.
But Neo Seoul was different.
It recreated humanity's golden age in full.
Skyscrapers scraping the heavens, lights dazzling the night sky.
Plenty to attract monsters.
Yet they never approached.
As if they feared Neo Seoul.
Demian's gaze drifted to the mammoth at one corner of the fortress.
Among monsters, it was relatively intact. But a monster was still a monster.
A massive one with immense power.
Most monsters wouldn't dare approach its majesty.
Demian's abilities had been crucial in reaching Neo Seoul safely, but the mammoth held its own significant share.
It was that powerful. Yet even it hesitated to get closer to Neo Seoul.
Something in Neo Seoul clearly terrified monsters.
People called it anti-monster wards, but Demian believed it was more than that.
Aleksandr, who'd listened quietly, asked.
"So, what is it?"
"No idea."
"No idea?"
"If every Tom, Dick, and Harry knew, it wouldn't be a secret."
"You're not exactly every Tom, Dick, and Harry."
"True."
Demian chuckled softly.
Aleksandr mirrored the smile.
After years of shared hardships, their grins looked remarkably similar.
That was when it happened.
Hummm!
A powerful wave suddenly pulsed from within the fortress.
Demian's face hardened coldly in an instant.
"He's throwing another fit."
"Ugh."
"Is the seal weakening?"
"Shall we check?"
"Yes!"
The two descended the stairs together.
Their destination was the fifth floor directly below.
The goods they'd unloaded in Neo Seoul came from the third floor and below warehouses.
The truly important items were on the fourth and fifth floors.
The fourth held dungeon artifacts.
The fifth held that one.
The fifth floor was a restricted zone.
Only Demian and Aleksandr could enter.
A blue barrier sealed the entrance.
Demian placed his hand on it, and the barrier dissolved.
A magic circle only he could deactivate.
They passed through into the fifth-floor warehouse.
Mystical blue light permeated the warehouse, just like at the entrance.
In the center of the rippling blue glow, something hovered.
A crown floated in midair without any pedestal.
A blue gem embedded in its center emanated an enigmatic aura.
Demian's eyes were ice-cold as he stared at it.
"Spirit King's Crown."
That was the name of the crown hovering in the air.
It looked mystical and beautiful, but it was a monster soaked in the blood of countless souls.
No one knew how many sacrifices had been made to obtain the Spirit King's Crown.
It was the most precious—and dangerous—item the White Bear Caravan carried.
That's why they'd sealed it on the fifth floor with a magic circle.
Any ordinary item would have weakened. But the Spirit King's Crown showed no sign of fading under the seal; instead, it raged wildly, unleashing power.
Aleksandr spoke up.
"The sealing magic circle won't hold much longer. At this rate, even those in Neo Seoul will notice."
"Then let's start scattering the bait."
"Now?"
"Yes!"
"The grand chaos begins."
"Sorry. It's because of me that the caravan family gets dragged in."
"Don't say that. We wouldn't have made it here without you. Our lives are yours to give. No regrets, no second thoughts. We're bound by fate."
"Let's burn it all as fiercely as we can."
A strange fervor ignited in Demian's previously cold eyes.