Path of Carnage
Zeon emerged from the mouth of one of Kaesu's nine heads.
A colossal beast that made his legs tremble just to look at it lay sprawled out long across the sand.
Its nine heads were splayed in different directions, tongues lolled out limply.
There was no spark of life anywhere on Kaesu.
It was definitely dead.
"So I took this thing down?"
Zeon wore an incredulous expression.
He'd used a trick rather than a straightforward method, but it was still a colossal monster felled by his own power.
An S-rank guardian dragon at that.
No Awakener in Neo Seoul could have claimed such a feat.
He wanted to savor the thrill of victory a bit longer, but there was no time to dawdle.
Even now, Dayton was surely pressing toward the dragon.
He couldn't afford to hesitate here.
Leaving Kaesu's massive corpse behind, Zeon moved forward. The sand strewn across the floor rose like dust, trailing after him.
It looked just like moths fluttering toward a flame.
And so Zeon advanced, sand streaming behind him like a tail.
A-rank was on another level entirely.
It wasn't just a massive surge in usable mana.
His senses, control over the sand, physical vitality—everything had leaped beyond compare.
Before, he'd had to squeeze out every ounce of strength to command the sand. Now, it felt like the sand was straining to follow him of its own accord.
The master-servant dynamic had flipped.
That was the sensation Zeon felt.
Zeon suddenly looked ahead.
A pitch-black darkness shrouded his vision. But he could sense it.
The hordes of chimeras lurking beyond that dark passage.
They weren't on Kaesu's level as guardians, but there were enough to pose a real threat, using the shadows for cover as they waited in ambush.
In the past, he wouldn't have detected their hidden presences. But as an A-rank, he could feel them as vividly as if he were seeing them with his own eyes.
"There's nothing stupider than charging blindly into enemies lying in wait."
Zeon had no intention of making such a foolish choice.
Fortunately, he had a perfect option.
Zeon directed the sand trailing him like moths.
Graaaah!
The sand spun ferociously, hurtling into the depths of the cave.
An application of Sand Mixer.
The sand filled the narrow cave, surging forward.
Kreeeek!
Kyaak!
Agonized screams echoed from ahead as the high-speed rotating sand shredded the hidden chimeras.
Zeon entered the cave in the sand's wake.
The walls and floor were littered with the brutally mangled corpses of chimeras.
Splash! Splash!
Each step Zeon took sent blood pooled on the ground splattering up with a scream-like sound.
Finally, having cleared all the monsters, the sand returned to swirl around Zeon.
The cloud of sand eddying naturally around him looked effortless.
A skill of this magnitude would have drained his mana rapidly in the past, leaving him exhausted. But now? It was nothing.
Like scooping a few buckets from a lake.
With this much capacity, he could spam skills without worry from here on out.
"Nice!"
Zeon flashed a satisfied smile and quickened his pace.
After walking some distance, another massive underground cavern appeared.
Unsure what guardian awaited this time, Zeon entered tense and alert.
But the scene inside was far from what he'd expected.
There was a chimera that seemed like a guardian.
A gigantic monster, easily over twenty meters from toe to head—it was unmistakably an ogre.
But unlike a normal ogre, it had two heads.
Its official name was Twin Head Ogre.
The creature's torso sprouted eight arms, and wings protruded from its back.
A chimera born from fusing it with other monsters.
Cyclops—one-eyed giants—and ogres were classified as the most dangerous bipedal monsters.
Armored in massive bodies, immense magic resistance, and overwhelming strength, they turned most Awakeners into mere snacks.
A Twin Head Ogre was several times stronger than a standard one.
If the Gold Dragon Hai Elton had chosen it as a guardian, it was likely a special specimen.
Yet this colossal Twin Head Ogre lay in pathetic ruin.
Its famously tough skin was split wide, exposing raw red flesh, and its two heads lay detached far from the body.
He didn't need to check to know who'd reduced the Twin Head Ogre chimera to this state.
"Dayton!"
Only Dayton could smash a Twin Head Ogre like a toy so effortlessly.
Dayton had clearly passed through here.
Zeon hurried past the Twin Head Ogre into the cave beyond.
The passage was strewn with countless chimera corpses.
Another trace of Dayton.
Dayton had pulverized everything in his path.
No chimera had slowed him even for a moment.
Zeon followed the trail of chimera bodies.
The deeper he went, the more exponentially the corpses piled up.
The stench of rot and fishy blood from the corpses made his head spin.
Still, Zeon didn't grimace once, pressing on diligently.
After some time, yet another vast underground cavern appeared.
Here too, a massive monster resembling a guardian lay in gruesome death.
Horribly, it was a giant amalgamated from countless chimera corpses.
"A Corpse Golem?"
While Kaesu and the Twin Head Ogre chimera were lifeforms pieced together from monsters, the Corpse Golem was something Hai Elton had created from nothing.
Gathering chimera corpses into a single entity required exponentially more effort than the others. But it was worth it.
Because it was that powerful.
Yet even this Corpse Golem hadn't held Dayton back.
A core gleamed in the Corpse Golem's chest.
A magic stone, just like Kaesu's.
Hai Elton had used it as a nucleus to form the Corpse Golem. But unlike Kaesu's, this one pulsed with malevolent energy.
Absorbing it would surely bring only side effects.
Boom!
Zeon detonated a Cremoa, shattering the magic stone.
It crumbled to dust, its dark energy dissipating like smoke.
As Zeon passed the Corpse Golem's remains—
Rumble!
The entire underground space shook like an earthquake.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the ceiling and walls, sand trickling in.
Boom! Rumble!
The tremors didn't stop.
Even as Zeon walked, the space quaked, and a ferocious gale blasted from ahead.
A gale strong enough to flay skin and hurl bodies away.
He didn't need to see it to know what was happening up front.
"Dayton's fighting the dragon."
The air and mana in the cavern churned wildly—that was proof.
Even before reaching them, goosebumps prickled his skin, cold sweat trickling down his spine.
His body reacted to the terror first. Then his mind.
For a moment, his brain went blank, thoughts erased.
The dragon's overwhelming presence had blasted them away.
Unknowingly, Zeon dropped to one knee.
He hadn't even faced the dragon directly, yet the unbearable dread crushed him.
Zeon gritted his teeth.
Cold sweat poured down his face unrelentingly.
'This is a dragon's might?'
He understood now why dragons had stood at Kurayan's pinnacle.
He was A-rank himself, yet merely sharing space with it affected him this much.
A normal Awakener would have vomited blood and died already.
No matter how many B-rank or lower gathered, they'd never scratch a dragon.
"Fuck!"
Zeon spat a curse and forced himself up.
Sheer willpower had shaken off the dragon's presence.
His whole body was soaked, drenched like after a bath.
"Who the hell gets scared like this?"
Muttering like a mantra to himself, Zeon pressed on.
Whoooosh!
The gale grew fiercer ahead.
The storm winds scattered the sand trailing Zeon. Still, he didn't stop.
After trudging far, Zeon finally reached a colossal underground cavern.
Impossibly vast, its walls and ceiling gleamed entirely in gold.
In the center, a Gold Dragon over 150 meters long clashed furiously with a single tiny human.
Hai Elton and Dayton.
Kaboom!
Their collision shook the vast space as if it might collapse any second.
Magical reinforcement was all that kept it intact; otherwise, it would have crumbled long ago.
"Insane!"
Zeon's eyes widened at the sight of their battle.
Hai Elton moved its enormous body nimbly, unleashing spell after spell.
Flames erupted in midair; bolts of lightning streaked forth. But Dayton dodged them all effortlessly, counterattacking.
Dayton kicked off the walls at invisible speeds.
Thud!
A couple bounds brought him to Hai Elton's side, swinging Clayon with full force.
BOOM!
The explosive impact shoved Hai Elton's massive bulk backward.
Its Absolute Shield prevented injury, but the shock was undeniable.
Hai Elton's eyes flashed in surprise at the blow that rattled its impenetrable barrier.
—How does a mere human wield such power?
"Don't underestimate humans, you lizard bastard!"
Dayton bellowed, swinging Clayon again. Hai Elton countered with Reverse Gravity.
Gravity inverted in an instant, launching Dayton skyward.
Wingless, escape was impossible. But Dayton had Clayon.
Clayon could fly.
Dayton used it to break free of the spell.
"Take this!"
Leading with Clayon, Dayton charged full throttle.
Craaaack!
The Absolute Shield shuddered violently, on the verge of shattering.
Hai Elton was stunned.
Even when Dayton had slain all the guardians, it hadn't seen him as a true threat.
As a master of magic with the strongest body, why fear a puny human?
To Hai Elton, Dayton had been a mildly dangerous toy, nothing more. But the raw power clashing against it now far exceeded expectations.
Human in form, but its combat prowess was inhuman.
"Die, you fucking lizard bitch!"
BOOM!
Hai Elton's head snapped back from Dayton's ferocious strike.
Fury blazed in the dragon's golden eyes as it slowly righted itself.
Kaboom! Kaboom!
Suddenly, lightning bolts rained down like a storm, filling the cavern without mercy or escape.
Enormous bolts saturated every inch.
"Kuhaha! This ain't enough to drop me!"
Yet Dayton emerged unscathed from the direct hits.
Emitting madness, he lunged at Hai Elton again.
Hai Elton involuntarily paled at Dayton's berserker-like frenzy.
Zeon watched Dayton's fight, fists clenched tight.
Frustrating as it was, this was beyond his league to intervene.
"Damn it!"
"No need to be so frustrated. Soon, you'll be as strong as Dayton—or stronger."
A poignant voice spoke right beside him.
Turning, Zeon saw a spider-woman—upper and lower body severed—lying on the floor, gazing at him.
He instantly knew Dayton's handiwork.
"Who are you?"
"Eblis Rayonia. That's my name from when I was human."