Chapter 609

At that moment, the man who had opened the door from inside spotted Zeon.

“Who the hell is that bastard?”

“He’s the one who saved me. He’s not suspicious, so don’t worry about him.”

As the bartender defended Zeon, the man glared fiercely.

“Fuck! How can I not worry? Are you crazy? You brought in someone whose identity isn’t even confirmed?”

“I told you I checked him myself. And that bastard’s a junkie now too.”

“He took it?”

“Right in front of me. And that bastard’s a Pathfinder.”

“What?”

“A Pathfinder. A guide with detection skills.”

“Seriously?”

“How do you think I got out? We escaped through the underground sewer. You know how complicated it is down there. But he found the way perfectly.”

At the bartender’s words, the man frowned.

The word Pathfinder caught his attention.

Competent navigators or Pathfinders were extremely rare.

The moment they awakened, they were scouted by large raid groups.

Even though portals had made travel to the magic stone mines and the Steel Fortress easier, in the desert their guidance was still absolute.

The man asked Zeon,

“Hey! Are you really a Pathfinder?”

“So what if I am?”

“What raid group are you with? If you’re a real Pathfinder, you must belong somewhere.”

“Do I have to tell you?”

“What?”

“I’m asking if I really need to reveal my affiliation to you.”

“Fuck! This guy’s funny. Of course you do. You come in here and refuse to say? You want to die?”

“And what would you do if you knew? Threaten me?”

When Zeon scoffed, the man’s face flushed red.

Because that had indeed been his intention.

He had planned to threaten Zeon by exposing his drug use to his raid group, then use him whenever needed.

The man glared at Zeon.

“You really want to die?”

“If you can kill me, go ahead.”

Zeon deliberately responded strongly.

That only enraged the man further, and he shouted,

“What’s all the noise?”

At that moment, a cold voice came from inside.

The owner of the voice was a man with long braided hair like a woman.

His complexion was extremely pale, and his expressionless face resembled a corpse.

At his appearance, the man who had been yelling at Zeon turned deathly pale.

“Master Deungwi!”

“I asked what the commotion is.”

The voice of the man called Deungwi grew colder.

The man who had been arguing with Zeon hurriedly explained,

“He was brought in by Joe, the bartender from the slums, but he stubbornly refuses to reveal his affiliation.”

“Then kill him. What’s the problem?”

“But he’s a Pathfinder. He might be useful…”

“Whether he’s a Pathfinder or a navigator, we can’t accept someone with an unknown background. Kill him. That’s cleaner.”

“Yes, Master Deungwi.”

With that, the man approached Zeon.

Killing intent was already pouring from his entire body.

He hadn’t liked Zeon to begin with, and now that Deungwi had given the order, there was no reason to hesitate.

“Tsk.”

Clicking his tongue, Zeon looked at Deungwi.

Deungwi stared back at Zeon with eyes devoid of emotion, like a snake.

Just by looking at his face and eyes, no emotion could be read.

The moment Zeon saw his face, he instinctively knew this was not someone he could fool.

“Where are you looking, you bastard?”

At that moment, the man swung his fist at Zeon.

As a martial-type awakened, his fists were harder than steel.

He had crushed countless skulls with those fists.

He was certain this time would be no different.

Thud!

But both his belief and his fist were stopped by Zeon’s palm.

Just before it struck his head, Zeon blocked it with his hand.

“Ghk! What the hell?”

The man struggled to pull his fist free, but it wouldn’t budge, as if caught in a vice.

Then Zeon clenched his hand.

Crunch!

“Aaaagh!”

The bones in the man’s fist shattered like crackers.

The man screamed at the unimaginable pain.

Only then did Zeon release his fist.

“You fucking bastard…!”

Freed, the man kicked toward Zeon’s head—but before his leg could reach, an explosion erupted from his chest.

Zeon had fired a Fire Missile.

Boom!

“Ugh!”

With a short scream, the man collapsed.

Red flames rose over his body.

There was no scream, no struggle.

He was already dead.

The flames fiercely consumed his corpse.

Only then did Deungwi’s expression change.

“He had some skill. But you shouldn’t have killed Jensen. He was quite useful here.”

So the man Zeon killed was named Jensen.

At Deungwi’s words, Zeon replied incredulously,

“So I was supposed to die at Jensen’s hands instead?”

“That would have been less painful.”

“You think very highly of yourself.”

“I don’t even need to step in. You’ll die here today.”

At Deungwi’s gesture, people inside the building revealed themselves.

All of them were awakened, exuding fierce killing intent.

Without hesitation, they attacked Zeon.

As they moved, the air inside the building churned, spreading a foul stench.

Zeon wrinkled his nose.

“As expected, you were making drugs here.”

The air was thick with the smell of drugs.

It was undeniable proof.

Then there was no need to hesitate.

“Fire Missile!”

Dozens of Fire Missiles formed behind Zeon and shot toward the attacking awakened.

Boom boom boom!

“Gah!”

“Ugh!”

Explosions and screams erupted simultaneously.

Lower-tier awakened were blown away, while stronger ones protected themselves with defensive skills.

“This bastard’s a high-level awakened.”

“At least B-rank.”

Those who survived judged Zeon to be of a higher class—but they didn’t shrink back.

There were still many allies inside the building.

WEEOOO—

An emergency siren blared, and awakened from other floors rushed in.

Some even had white powder all over their clothes, as if they had been making drugs.

“Die!”

“Aaaah!”

They attacked recklessly.

Boom!

At that moment, chain explosions erupted centered on Zeon.

He had used Fire Burst.

The explosions instantly swallowed the charging awakened.

“Aaaagh!”

“Ugh!”

Desperate screams echoed within the flames.

Seeing this, Deungwi frowned.

Zeon was far stronger than he had expected.

He glared at the bartender.

“Just who did you bring here?”

“H-he’s just a Pathfinder…”

“Does that look like a mere Pathfinder? I’ve never heard of a Pathfinder using fire-type skills.”

“Well…”

The bartender stammered, unable to answer.

Pathfinders, who led the way ahead of main forces, were typically classified as martial types.

Though they had detection skills, their strength came from powerful physical abilities.

But Zeon was using fire magic.

He was nothing like a typical Pathfinder.

Deungwi said,

“That bastard is no Pathfinder.”

“Then what…”

“Who cares?”

“What?”

Boom!

Another explosion erupted, killing many awakened.

The iron door was blown off, and flames spread outside.

People nearby had already come out to watch.

Killing Zeon wouldn’t be easy, and silencing all the witnesses was impossible.

By now, awakened from the South District were probably on their way.

There was no keeping this quiet.

Looking around, Deungwi muttered,

“It’s a good place, but we’ll have to abandon it.”

His gaze finally fell on the bartender beside him.

The one who had brought disaster stood there with a foolish expression.

Rage surged.

Deungwi flicked his hand.

Slice!

A blade-like gust severed the bartender’s neck instantly.

He died without even feeling pain.

“Aaaagh!”

“P-please…!”

Screams of his subordinates continued.

Deungwi memorized Zeon’s face clearly.

“I will have my revenge.”

He had an excellent memory.

Once he saw a face, he never forgot it.

And Zeon used fire-type skills.

Most importantly, he had taken drugs.

He might be rampaging now, but once withdrawal hit, he would inevitably seek out other addicts.

With those three factors, finding his true identity would be easy.

But Deungwi didn’t know.

That Zeon’s face wasn’t real.

That the drugs in his body could be completely purified at any time using the Ring of Purification or Brielle’s skill.

Boom!

Another Fire Burst exploded.

As his subordinates screamed in the flames, Deungwi turned away without hesitation.

He headed deep inside the building to a workshop.

A middle-aged man working there pushed up his slipping glasses and asked,

“What’s all that noise outside?”

“We have an uninvited guest.”

“That’s quite a disturbance for just a guest.”

“So we’ll have to abandon this place.”

“I see.”

“We leave in one minute. Pack everything.”

“Got it.”

Without question, the man acted immediately.

He grabbed a nearby backpack and stuffed in all the tools and materials in the workshop.

Enough to fill a large transport vehicle—all of it fit inside.

The backpack was enchanted with subspace.

In an instant, everything was packed.

The man left with Deungwi through a secret passage.

They vanished silently into the darkness of the South District.

Right after, Zeon chased out of the building.

“Tsk. Did I lose them?”

He looked around, but there was no trace.

They had disappeared perfectly.

At that moment—

“Over there!”

“Block all exits!”

A large number of awakened were rushing in from the opposite side.

It was Paoshan and his Punishment Squad.

They had tracked the place down.

Zeon realized it was time to withdraw.

Like Deungwi, he quietly disappeared into the city’s darkness.

---

“To dare pull something like this in the South District.”

Seeing the burning building, Paoshan’s face twisted like a demon.

A large quantity of drugs had been found at the entrance.

They had also discovered the decapitated bartender inside.

Proof that drugs had been produced or distributed here.

Paoshan ordered his subordinates,

“Put out the fire first.”

“Yes, sir!”

One member stepped forward.

He possessed the rare water-element ability.

“Aqua Bomb.”

As he activated his skill, an explosion erupted inside the building.

Water burst like a bomb, flooding the interior.

The raging flames quickly subsided.

Other awakened stepped in to finish extinguishing the fire.

The inside of the building was horrific.

Numerous corpses were found, half-burned.

Paoshan ignored them and walked deeper inside.

He stopped at the workshop.

Though the drug maker and Deungwi had taken everything, they hadn’t erased all traces.

White powder scattered across the floor.

Drugs.

“So this was the workshop after all.”

Paoshan ground his teeth.

He had gained nothing from this operation.

Finding this place had been pure luck.

He had rushed over at the sight of the flames—only to arrive after everything was over.

He didn’t even know who killed these awakened, let alone who ran the place.

He felt completely toyed with.

Paoshan ordered,

“Collect all corpses with intact faces. We must identify them.”

“Yes, captain!”

The subordinates began gathering the bodies.

Looking into the darkness where Zeon had vanished, Paoshan muttered,

“No matter who they are, once I catch them, I won’t let them off.”