Carnage in the Depths
Goran's face hardened menacingly.
Zeon's mocking words had struck at his pride.
"Ha! The arrogance of a brat like you pierces the heavens."
"I'm being arrogant again."
"Yeah! Feels that way. Makes me even madder. I gotta rip you limb from limb to feel better."
Goran's voice dripped with viscous killing intent.
After taking over Shinchon, this was the first time he'd been backed into such a corner.
What enraged him even more was realizing that this entire situation, which he'd thought he controlled, was actually under Zeon's thumb.
Goran knew it well.
The truly terrifying ones were those who controlled the situation like this.
He had to cut Zeon down completely before he grew any bigger.
Goran cracked his neck from side to side as he spoke.
"You're the first bastard to make me this serious. So consider it an honor to die by my hand."
Diamond Claw
In that instant, a Diamond Claw shot out silently from behind Zeon.
It targeted his waist precisely, aiming to sever his spine in one stroke and neutralize him.
But just before it connected, Zeon's body slid sideways smoothly. He'd deployed Sand Step to evade the attack.
"Fuck!"
With a curse, a man with an ice-cold expression materialized from empty air.
It was Ta-o, one of Goran's trusted lieutenants.
"Tch!"
Goran clicked his tongue.
His surefire trap had failed.
He'd prepared Ta-o for just such a contingency.
Ta-o was a martial Awakener specialized in assassination.
On top of that, Eiba had used illusion magic to perfectly conceal his presence.
Goran had dragged out the pointless back-and-forth with Zeon to distract him.
But Zeon dodged Ta-o's ambush as if he'd known it was coming.
Now there was no choice but to go all out and kill him.
"Chaa!"
"Haat!"
Ta-o and Eiba attacked Zeon.
Zeon fell back with Sand Step.
The spot he retreated to was right near the beds where the blood-draining victims lay.
"Now!"
Boom!
At Goran's shout, one of the people on the bed exploded.
In that brief moment since entering, Goran had turned a few of the bedridden into human bombs as a precaution.
Zeon was flung backward by the blast.
Ta-o charged at him, Eiba cast her magic, and Goran detonated another human bomb to hammer Zeon.
It was the same combo that had crushed countless rivals decades ago when he'd seized Shinchon.
Iton and Dolkhan were missing, but the three of them alone could smash most Awakeners.
The problem was that Zeon wasn't most Awakeners.
Zeon swung his hand.
Sand piled on the floor rose like snakes, attacking the trio.
It was one of his skills, Viper.
"What the?"
"Sand snakes?"
"Shit!"
The three scattered in alarm.
They'd faced countless Awakeners, but never one who wielded sand.
Viper
Like vipers indeed, the Vipers struck at their throats, homing in like magic missiles.
Realizing they couldn't dodge, the three activated their skills to protect themselves.
Ta-o with Diamond Claw, Eiba with magic, and Goran with Air Bomb to block the Vipers.
Kaboom!
An explosion ripped through the air, sand grains scattering everywhere.
"Ugh!"
Eiba groaned.
No damage from the Viper, but sand had gotten in her eyes.
She instinctively squeezed them shut.
Zeon didn't miss the opening, diving into her guard.
"No!"
"Eiba!"
Ta-o and Goran yelled, rushing to save her. But Zeon was faster.
His right hand clamped over Eiba's face.
Flames erupted from his palm.
The superheated blaze melted her face in an instant.
Eiba died without a scream.
Goran and Ta-o's eyes bulged at her gruesome, unimaginable end. Zeon charged them.
"Yaaah!"
"Die!"
Goran and Ta-o unleashed their ultimate skills.
Kaboom!
The bedridden victims detonated in a chain reaction, and Ta-o's Diamond Claw glowed with red aura, shooting toward Zeon like arrows.
Zeon was caught in the blasts, Ta-o's claws piercing the center.
"Got him."
"It's over."
Goran and Ta-o shouted in unison.
Excitement at catching Zeon numbed their reason. They didn't notice.
Sand floating around them.
They realized it moments later.
"Sand?"
"When?"
Greeee!
The floating sand spun at terrifying speed.
Zeon's Sand Mixer had activated.
The whirling grains devoured everything.
First their clothes shredded to dust, then their skin, then muscle.
Sand Mixer
Goran and Ta-o screamed at the top of their lungs, trying to escape, but it was futile.
The Sand Mixer consumed not just their bodies, but their voices too.
Briel watched wide-eyed.
Greeee!
The quiet room echoed only with the grind of gears.
Briel shuddered, feeling as if her own body was being shredded.
Moments later, the eerie sound faded, the sand settling.
Two lumps of meat stood there.
Goran and Ta-o, mangled beyond recognition.
They staggered briefly before collapsing.
That was their end.
"Oh my god!"
Briel clamped her hands over her mouth.
Her pupils shook violently.
She'd never seen a skill like this.
Not even imagined it.
"Sand-wielding skills? A Sand Mage, then?"
Through the fading flames, Zeon's figure emerged on her retina.
Unscathed by Goran's explosions or Ta-o's attacks.
The sight terrified her more.
Zeon muttered at the corpses.
"Guess it's not a skill for humans. Gotta hold back next time."
He'd thought they'd last longer. He'd overestimated them.
Zeon shook his head slightly, scanning the room.
Goran's skills had devastated the underground space.
All the bedridden were killed in the blasts. Briel was the sole survivor.
Zeon approached her.
"To keep the secret, killing you's probably best."
He didn't want his Sand Mage identity out yet.
Quick-witted Briel blurted,
"W-wait! I'll keep the secret. Please spare me."
"Hmm. I don't trust human promises."
"I'm an elf. A High Elf. We keep promises better than humans."
"Still just a drug-making elf. Why trust a junkie's word? Easier to kill you."
'Fuck!'
Desperation crossed Briel's face.
She'd seen the underbelly of human society.
She guessed why Zeon hid his awakening type.
'A Sand Mage's utility is endless. Neo Seoul's power players will hound him.'
Zeon knew it too, hence the secrecy.
Though reduced to making drugs under human threats, she wanted to live.
She was only twelve.
For an elf living centuries, she was a newborn.
Too young to die.
Desperately, she said,
"I-I'll do a Soul Oath."
"What's that worth?"
"A High Elf's is different. It has binding force."
"Binding force?"
"A soul oath must be kept. Break it, and you die instantly."
"Really? Elves I've met never mentioned that."
"They were regular elves. I'm a High Elf."
"So High Elves are special?"
"Obviously."
Briel shrieked.
Zeon furrowed his brow slightly.
Unlike Dayton, he felt nothing special for elves.
He'd kill enemies, but no need to hunt them down.
As Zeon pondered, Briel played her last card.
"My true name is Briel Roa. I, Briel Roa, swear a soul oath to keep your secret and follow you."
A brilliant light emanated from her body.
Zeon felt something connect his heart to hers. Instinctively, he knew.
If she broke the oath, she'd die.
Zeon clicked his tongue.
"Tch! No need to swear loyalty. Just the secret would've sufficed."
"I-I panicked... Fuck! You bastard..."
Realizing too late her oath was excessive, Briel stammered.
But it was activated.
Too late to undo.
No use regretting.
"I'll free you for now."
Zeon gripped the chains around Briel's ankles.
Strange runes were engraved on them.
Magic spells limiting her abilities. That's why she couldn't break them.
Whoosh!
The chains that bound her so long melted away pathetically.
"Ah!"
Briel blinked repeatedly, gasping involuntarily.
She moved her feet cautiously.
No resistance.
"Free... I'm free."
She hopped in place, reveling in it. But soon, cold reality hit.
"Fuck! Why'd I swear that..."
With the soul oath to Zeon, she had to follow him.
Escaping the junkie den, but a new chain bound her.
"Eh, whatever. It'll work out."
She dodged reality in the end.
Living among humans so long had warped her thinking like theirs.
Meanwhile, Zeon checked for other survivors. Sadly, all had perished in the blasts.
They were doomed anyway, even without the explosions.
Croker had kept them comatose, feeding minimal nutrients via tubes.
Drained periodically in their weakened state, their lives hung by a thread.
Zeon turned from the corpses with a bitter expression.
Briel approached.
"Brat! I'll free you, so go back to your kind."
"Fuck! I already swore the oath."
"I'm freeing you."
"Oath says I follow you. Can't help it."
"So?"
"Dunno. This life's fucked."