r18novel Chapter 634
Chapter 634
Chapter 634
Zeon’s expression was harder than ever before.
A crater hundreds of meters wide had formed on the ground as if a meteor had fallen, and every being inside it had vaporized.
It truly looked as though the sun itself had exploded upon the earth.
If Zeon had not intercepted Hell Fire with Diamond Spear, an even greater catastrophe would have struck the Steel Fortress.
The Steel Fortress itself might have disappeared from this land.
That was how terrifying the power had been.
No matter how extraordinary an elf Del Roa was after living for so many years, he should not have possessed this level of authority.
It was obvious that the beings now consuming Del Roa were the source of that power.
Zeon’s eyes sharpened.
“Water, fire, wind, earth! Are they using the power of all four elements?”
“Heh heh! It’s the rampage of the Elemental Kings.”
An unexpected person answered his question.
Dantal, who had been hiding far away, revealed himself as he spoke.
“Dantal?”
“I waited to finish you with my own hands, but it seems that won’t be necessary anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
“Exactly what you see. Once the Elemental Kings rampage, no one can stop them.”
“You’re saying those are truly Elemental Kings?”
“To be precise, they are the remnants left behind when the Elemental Kings of Kurayan perished.”
When Kurayan was destroyed, not only the spirits but even the Elemental Kings themselves were fated to perish.
Even the Elemental Kings could not avoid the apocalypse that arrived without warning.
The very existence of spirits was tied to Kurayan itself.
Realizing they could not escape destruction, the Elemental Kings entrusted part of their power into bone necklaces and left them in the care of the elves.
Though they would disappear for now, they desperately hoped to sprout anew in a new world.
But most of those who knew the truth failed to cross over to Earth in time and met their end in Kurayan.
In the end, only the bone necklaces crossed over to Earth, and those ignorant of the truth called them trash—a derogatory term, Kritus.
Dantal was the only elf who knew the true identity of Kritus.
Drunk on power, this mad elf never warned his people of the danger of Kritus. Instead, he delighted in watching the remnants of the Elemental Kings sealed within Kritus run wild.
“There’s no need for me to step in personally now. Once the remnants of the Elemental Kings have rampaged, no one will be able to stop them.”
Dantal grinned.
It was he who had forcibly stolen the Sword of Cobaltan to kill Zeon, thereby accelerating the destruction of El Harun.
Countless of his own people had died because of it, yet he felt no guilt whatsoever.
Only two obsessions existed within him.
One was to become stronger than anyone else in the world.
The other was to kill Zeon, who had defeated him.
Zeon asked him,
“How do we stop their rampage?”
“Have you ever seen a madman regain his senses?”
“So there’s no way.”
“Heh heh! More accurately, even I don’t know. I’ve never seen a mad Elemental King before, so how would I know how to calm them?”
“……”
“Regardless, do try your best. I shall remain here and watch you and that fortress of humans perish.”
“Not only the Elemental Kings—you’ve gone mad too. Even though the Elemental Kings will kill not only the Steel Fortress but your own kin from Kurayan as well, you’ll simply stand by?”
“Heh heh! I accelerated El Harun’s destruction with my own hands in order to kill you. My hands are already stained with blood. There’s no reason to feel guilt now.”
“You’re insane!”
Zeon glared at Dantal.
Dantal sneered back at him.
He stood several kilometers away from Zeon.
With Zeon’s abilities, he could close that distance in an instant, but unfortunately, the being that had once been Del Roa stood between them.
Kwakwakwa!
Burning water, earth, and wind raged around Del Roa like a storm.
If left alone, the storm would continue growing until it destroyed the Steel Fortress in moments.
Even now, Levin and the Numbers were desperately struggling to stop the rampage of the Elemental Kings, but there was no way human power could halt a natural disaster.
The Elemental Kings were nature itself.
No matter how powerful humans were, they could not oppose nature.
At least not by ordinary means.
Whoooooosh!
The storm gradually expanded its territory.
“Damn it! Get away!”
“Fall back!”
The awakened ones on the battlefield hurriedly fled.
They knew it too.
The moment they were swept into the storm raging around Del Roa, they would vanish without leaving even a fragment of bone behind.
The awakened ones could at least move and avoid the storm.
The problem was the Steel Fortress and the people inside it.
They had nowhere to run.
Even if they tried to escape, the storm had already enclosed the area completely, leaving no exit.
“Hoo…”
Zeon took a deep breath.
Now was not the time to worry about Dantal’s sneak attack.
He had to resolve the Elemental Kings’ rampage somehow.
If he failed, tens of thousands—perhaps hundreds of thousands—would die.
Just as Zeon was about to attack Del Roa—
—Zeon!
A translucent being suddenly appeared before him.
It was Lili.
Zeon frowned at the unexpected appearance.
He had never imagined Lili would reveal herself so openly in front of everyone.
“Lili!”
—Leave this matter to us.
“To us?”
At that moment, another spirit appeared beside Lili.
It was Yuri, Haru’s spirit.
At some point, Haru had already arrived inside the Steel Fortress.
The appearance of the two spirits left Zeon unable to hide his confusion.
“Yuri, how are you here?”
—Because I could hear the Elemental Kings crying….
“Crying?”
—Yeah! They’re crying so much right now. Can’t you hear them?
Yuri’s gaze was fixed upon Del Roa, who was radiating destructive energy like a raging storm.
Yuri was the very first spirit born within the Primordial Forest.
Lili had also been born under the influence of Yuri and Gaia.
Perhaps because of that, these two spirits were special compared to others.
—Piiiii!
At that moment, a familiar cry echoed through the sky.
Zeon looked up and saw a gigantic being swimming through the heavens.
It was so massive that its shadow covered the Steel Fortress.
Zeon instantly recognized the being gliding through the sky.
“Gaia!”
—Pii!
The enormous whale answered energetically.
It was Gaia.
“You came because you sensed the remnants of the Elemental Kings too?”
—Pii!
Gaia answered briefly as if to say yes.
“Hoo…”
Zeon let out a long breath.
The existence of spirits would now be revealed to the world.
Jin Geum-ho, Seo Tae-ran, Urtian, and even the Numbers standing at the entrance of the Steel Fortress stared blankly at the spirits circling around Zeon.
Among them, the elves like Hera reacted the most strongly.
At the appearance of the spirits, they forgot even the crisis before them and shed tears of emotion.
“Spirits… have appeared in this land as well?”
“Then does that mean we too may one day contract with spirits?”
To elves, spirits were not merely beings to form contracts with—they were companions of the soul.
They were also proof of their purity.
Proof that they had not yet lost their identity as elves.
Hera widened her eyes as she looked at Yuri and Lili.
The two beings chattering freely through the air were unquestionably spirits she recognized.
And from Gaia, the giant whale leisurely swimming above Zeon’s head, an indescribably special aura emanated.
“Is that creature also related to spirits?”
She shook her head.
She had thought she learned much after coming to Earth, yet now she realized there were still far more things she did not know.
—Piiiii!
—Okay!
—Let’s go!
Gaia and the two spirits circling around Zeon moved toward the rampaging Del Roa.
Though they had not exchanged words, their intentions aligned perfectly.
Their goal was to calm the rampaging remnants of the Elemental Kings.
It was something no one else could do.
Only fellow spirits could accomplish it.
Fearlessly, they approached the center of the storm.
“Those things….”
Sparks flew from Dantal’s eyes as he watched them.
As an elf who had lived for ages, he immediately realized what the spirits were trying to do.
“How dare they interfere with my grand undertaking. I will not forgive this.”
Dantal drew the Sword of Cobaltan and swung it toward Gaia and the others.
It was a sword imbued with the authority of the chief god Cobaltan.
If struck by this sword, even spirits could not endure it.
They would suffer severe damage—or if things went badly, they could even perish.
But the Sword of Cobaltan never reached Gaia and the others.
Boom!
Zeon fired Sand Blaster and blocked Dantal’s attack.
During that moment, Gaia and the two spirits entered the storm created by Del Roa.
“Hoo!”
Zeon let out a sigh of relief and looked toward Dantal.
There was nothing more he could do against Del Roa now.
But Dantal was another matter entirely.
A monster so obsessed with power that he had accelerated the destruction of his own homeland, El Harun.
If such a monster were left alive in this world, there was no telling what madness he would commit next.
He had to eliminate that monster today.
If he missed this opportunity, who knew when another would come.
“Levin!”
“Yes, hyung!”
“From now on, protect Brielle and Haru. Don’t let anyone get near them.”
“Got it, hyung!”
With that reply, Levin immediately flew to Brielle and Haru’s side.
If those two were harmed, the two spirits would suffer as well.
Zeon did not know by what method the two spirits and Gaia would calm the rampaging remnants of the Elemental Kings, but protecting the children came first.
Leaving the two children to Levin, Zeon fearlessly shot toward Dantal’s location.
Fwoosh!
Riding a sandstorm, Zeon crossed several kilometers in an instant and approached Dantal.
Dantal’s face twisted hideously.
“Good! Since it’s come to this, I’ll kill you first and personally destroy the spirits afterward.”
A crimson aura surged from the Sword of Cobaltan in his hand.
Shugaaak!
As Dantal swung his sword, the crimson energy flew toward Zeon like a flash of lightning.
Without dodging, Zeon unleashed Sand Blaster repeatedly.
Shugagagak!
The crimson energy sliced through the barrage of Sand Blasters like paper and closed in on Zeon.
At that moment, Zeon twisted his body and narrowly evaded the crimson energy.
The attack missed by a hair’s breadth and slammed directly into the earth.
Swoooosh!
A massive fissure like a canyon split open where the crimson energy struck.
It was truly absurd destructive power.
The awakened ones and demi-humans who witnessed it trembled involuntarily.
“How is that possible?”
“Is he insane? That kind of power?”
“My god….”
They themselves were beings far removed from ordinary people. Yet even they felt fear at the display Dantal had shown.
But Zeon did not shrink back in the slightest and continued approaching the sword-wielding Dantal.
“You bastard!”
Dantal roared at Zeon.
Madness burned intensely in his eyes as he looked at him.
“Sand Soldiers!”
Shushushush!
Zeon answered by summoning dozens of Sand Soldiers.
Amid the Sand Soldiers charging toward Dantal, serpents made of sand burrowed through.
The Sand Vipers aimed to bite through Dantal’s throat.
“Hyaaaah!”
With a savage cry, Dantal swung the Sword of Cobaltan.
The horizontally-sweeping blade cut through not only the Sand Soldiers but the Sand Vipers as well.
The Sand Soldiers and Sand Vipers vanished instantly.
But Zeon was not disappointed.
His Sand Soldiers and Vipers had merely been distractions.
His true attack began now.
“Sand Mixer!”
Gaaaaang!
Rotating sand like the teeth of a saw swallowed Dantal whole.