Elharon Exposed
The dwarf Gofrey glared with his bulging, frog-like eyes.
"Just like humans, you're cunning and vile. Pretending to be unconscious to trick us."
"Who's calling who cunning? You little runt barely half a finger tall."
"Kuh!"
Gofrey's face twisted horribly at Dayton's vicious insult.
His features were flushed with rage.
He'd heard the rumors about Dayton.
He knew the man hated heteromorphs like himself and was an Awakener of terrifying power.
From the Earthlings' perspective, it made sense.
To them, his kind might be invaders. But it had been a choice made for survival.
There was no reason to condemn decisions born of the will to live.
Fighting to survive, with the strong dominating the weak—it was only natural.
At least in Kurayan, where they'd come from.
"I'll show you the might of us dwarves."
Gofrey raised his hand. At his signal, dwarf warriors waiting in Death Valley emerged.
The dwarf warriors rode vehicles mounted with massive cannons.
Cars hadn't existed in Kurayan originally.
These were reverse-engineered from Earth's vehicles.
Fusing dwarven technology and magic, the completed machines were armed with mana particle cannons.
These too were inspired by Earth's weapons.
They weren't perfect yet, falling short of the planned power output, but Gofrey was confident they were enough to kill Dayton.
Elven rangers appeared around the dwarves.
The elven rangers rode red horses.
These Red Bloods, brought from Kurayan alongside the elves, were carnivores—a rarity among mounts.
Fierce and strong enough to devour small monsters.
The elven rangers had tamed them.
In the desert, nothing matched their mobility.
The elven rangers wore light armor, bows and arrows at the ready.
They charged at tremendous speed.
Dayton's lips twisted into a sneer.
"Heh heh! I wondered why I couldn't find you no matter how much I scoured the desert. Hiding like cockroaches, cobbling together this junk."
"Consider it an honor, human! You're the first victim of the great dwarven mana particle cannon."
"Still just a dragon's lapdog..."
"Who're you calling a lapdog? We merely made a deal with him."
Gofrey bristled.
"A deal? With a dragon? Since when do half-pints like you have that kind of pull?"
"Shut your mouth, human! Don't underestimate the power that built Elharon. Even the mighty dragon wouldn't dare trifle with our city."
"Elharon, huh. So that's the name of your little hideout."
"Gasp!"
Gofrey sucked in a breath.
He'd let the secret slip without thinking.
Just as humans had built colonies to survive Earth's desertification, those from Kurayan had secretly constructed their own city.
Hidden from human eyes.
A massive metropolis where humans, elves, dwarves, and other heteromorphs coexisted: Elharon.
Led by elves, designed by dwarves, funded and technologically bolstered by humans. The rest had pooled their resources to complete it.
Its scale, location, and very existence were the deepest of secrets. Yet he'd blurted it out himself.
Dayton turned to Zeon.
"Bitchin', you hear that?"
"Yeah!"
Zeon nodded.
Gofrey's careless remark packed a wealth of information.
A city called Elharon existed.
It wasn't far from Kamchatka Colony.
A place blending magic and science, like Neo Seoul.
They viewed Earth's humans with utter contempt.
And they were allied with a dragon named Hai Elton.
Zeon didn't know their ultimate goal. But their unity alone posed a massive threat to humanity on this land.
Hammer Son glared at Gofrey, muttering.
"Stupid dwarf fuck!"
"Watch your mouth, human! Who the hell do you think you're talking to?"
"Didn't you just spill the secret yourself?"
"Kill everyone here, and the secret dies with them. That's why I brought the mana particle cannon in the first place."
Hammer Son's face twisted at Gofrey's words.
Watching this, Zeon murmured to himself.
They're united, but not perfectly. None of the three races fully trust each other.
He spotted an elf sighing from a distance.
From their earlier conversation and now this reaction, the elf was the odd one out.
Maybe elven nature, but clearly uncomfortable allying with dwarves and humans.
Dayton mocked them.
"Heh heh! What a joke. Kidnapping innocent passersby wasn't enough—you're bickering among yourselves. Missing a few screws up top?"
"Shut up!"
Gofrey bellowed and swiftly retreated.
Hammer Son and the elf followed.
As they moved, the dwarves in Death Valley fired their mana particle cannons.
Boom boom boom!
With deafening roars, beams of mana particles hurtled toward Dayton and Zeon.
Dayton didn't dodge.
"Kuhaha!"
Leading with Clayon, he charged straight at the incoming beams.
"Crazy old bastard, as always."
Zeon shook his head.
He had no intention of taking the hits head-on like Dayton.
A sand barrier rose around Zeon.
Kaboom kaboom kaboom!
The mana particle cannons struck immediately after.
Sand exploded outward, pillars of it shooting skyward.
Terrifying heat melted the sand; immense shockwaves blasted in all directions.
It was devastating power.
"Ngh!"
Zeon grunted.
He kept raising sand barriers for protection, but the penetrating shock hammered his body like a sledgehammer.
"They made something like this, huh."
At this level, it could melt most monsters in seconds.
He didn't know if Elharon had these cannons, but they'd be a huge threat.
Sand barriers alone had limits against mana particle fire.
Zeon dove into the sand.
Burrowing deep in an instant, he changed direction.
Toward Death Valley.
'Gotta take out those mana particle cannons.'
He released Exion outward, parting the sand to create space to move.
Using Sand Step, Zeon propelled forward.
The sand before him parted and swept behind.
No visibility, no fixed direction in the deep underground.
But Zeon navigated with precision, as if seeing with his own eyes.
The sand in a dozens-of-meters radius fed him information.
Kaboom!
Even now, external shocks transmitted faintly.
The cannons were still pounding the surface.
Then, suddenly, the impacts stopped.
Zeon had reached the entrance to Death Valley.
He burst out of the sand.
What he saw was a scene of utter slaughter.
"I'll kill every last one of you."
Dayton was rampaging like a madman.
Despite the barrage of mana particle fire, he hadn't a scratch.
It had only fueled his rage.
Kaboom!
One swing of his blade exploded a cannon-mounted vehicle.
Clayon pulverized not just the vehicle but the dwarf riding it.
"Kaaak!"
"Aaaak!"
Dwarven screams echoed through Death Valley.
It was a one-sided massacre.
Realizing the cannons were useless, the dwarves dismounted with war hammers and weapons drawn.
They were Awakeners too.
They couldn't flee from Dayton out of fear.
They attacked with all they had.
The elven rangers joined in.
Firing mana-infused arrows to harass Dayton. But none landed.
His emanating aura deflected them all.
Crack!
"Krak!"
A dwarven head exploded under Dayton's swing.
He could have killed dozens at once but methodically took them one by one.
It somehow seemed even more brutal.
"Th-that monster..."
Hammer Son shuddered.
His shoulders twitched uncontrollably.
Dayton's unimaginable prowess terrified him.
When Hai Elton had tasked him, he'd scoffed at Dayton.
Earth humans had limits, no matter how strong. But witnessing it firsthand shattered that notion.
"Kaaak!"
"Guh!"
Dayton crushed the mighty dwarf warriors and elven rangers like ants.
Despite their full-force assaults, they couldn't land a hit.
It was like facing a dragon.
"Damn it! We retreat."
Hammer Son ordered his men.
"Abandon the elves and dwarves?"
"It's not abandoning. Strategic withdrawal."
Hammer Son replied coldly to his subordinate.
"But..."
"Just grab the guide. Snatching him alone isn't a total loss."
"Understood."
As the subordinate replied and turned to leave—
"Ngh!"
"Damn it!"
Confused voices came from the rear.
Hammer Son whipped around in shock. Demian was gone.
"What? What happened?"
"H-he vanished into the sand."
His men looked baffled.
They'd had Demian secured, but he'd sunk into the sand in an instant.
Demian reappeared far from them.
Zeon had carried him through the sand and emerged.
Zeon asked Demian.
"You okay?"
"Y-yeah... fine."
Demian shook his head, dazed.
He was just as disoriented.
Hammer Son shouted.
"Grab them!"
His men charged at Zeon and Demian.
Boasting their Awakener status, they unleashed various skills at Zeon. But he raised a sand barrier, neutralizing them effortlessly.
Boom boom boom!
The attack skills fizzled against the barrier.
"What?"
"Weird skill."
"Stop him from using skills!"
The Awakeners closed in, striking the barrier directly.
Kaboom!
The sand wall crumbled with the explosion. But Zeon, who should have been behind it, was gone.
He'd blocked their view with the barrier and burrowed underground.
He reemerged behind the Awakeners.
Appearing silently, Zeon unleashed Sand Missiles.
Shooo shooo shooo!
A dozen sand missiles targeted their heads from behind.
In seconds, five or six Awakeners' skulls shattered into dust. The rest finally noticed Zeon behind them.
"He's using some freaky skill."
"Blink?"
Confusion spread across their faces.
Zeon smirked at them.
"Too early to be surprised."
"Arrogant human."
"Get him!"
The enraged Awakeners rushed Zeon.
As they charged full-tilt, Zeon murmured.
"Sand Mixer!"
Gaaang!
The sand at their feet spun at high speed.
"Wh-what?"
"The sand?"
The Awakeners were swept into the vortex.
The sand ground them down before they could escape.
"Kaaak!"
"Aaaak!"
Desperate screams erupted from the whirling sand—but silenced soon after.
Leaving the blood-soaked sand behind, Zeon turned to Hammer Son.
"Now it's just you."