Chapter 622

The Shadow Tribe possessed abilities specialized for assassination and infiltration.

That didn’t mean they were weak in direct combat.

Their ability to draw out shadows and turn them into weapons made them formidable even in a frontal confrontation.

Slash!

“Urgh!”

“Damn it!”

Inside the narrow corridor, the North District awakened were forced backward by the shadow weapons swinging at them.

Those at the front had long since been cut down by the shadow weapons, and those in the rear could not advance easily because there were too many obstacles in the way.

“Move aside!”

Unable to bear it any longer, Borin of the Blue Fallen Leaves Special Forces tried to push forward, but too many people crowded the narrow passage, making it impossible to advance.

“Aaaagh!”

“Cough!”

The screams of the North District awakened rang out from the front of the corridor.

Borin felt her blood boiling.

She wanted to step forward and wipe out the Shadow Tribe immediately, but it was impossible unless everyone blocking the corridor died or collapsed first.

But if they waited until then, there was a chance the Queen of the North District, Serion, would be captured or killed by them.

She had to prevent that worst-case scenario somehow, but the truth was that there was no clear solution at the moment.

She shouted.

“What happened on the elevator side?”

“They destroyed the elevator, so it’s blocked midway.”

“Damn it! Is there no other route?”

“I’m sorry.”

Her subordinate answered with an apologetic expression.

This was Serion’s residence.

For her safety, they had reduced the number of accessible routes to the absolute minimum.

They never imagined it would bring about such disastrous results.

'We were too complacent. We should have paid more attention to Her Majesty’s safety.'

Borin had never expected the Shadow Tribe to sneak in here.

No, the very fact that the Shadow Tribe had entered Neo Seoul was something that should have been impossible.

El Harun, where they resided, was thousands of kilometers away from here.

Under normal circumstances, the probability of them arriving safely here was extremely low.

'Did they use the portal?'

Only then did Borin realize it.

The portal was not only a useful means of transportation for the people of Neo Seoul, but for enemies as well.

Strengthening the portal’s security could be considered later. Right now, saving Serion was the priority.

But there was still no breakthrough in sight.

It was then that a familiar voice was heard.

“Lower your heads.”

The moment they heard the voice, Borin and everyone in the corridor lowered their heads as if bewitched.

Whoosh!

At that instant, they felt an intense heat pass just above the backs of their necks.

A streak of flame had shot over their heads like an arrow.

The power of the flame arrow, compressed thin as an actual arrow, was tremendous.

Boom!

“Urgh!”

“Ugh!”

The Shadow Tribe members who had been guarding the entrance like an iron wall were blasted backward with stifled groans.

As the entrance opened, the awakened who had lowered their heads poured into the top floor all at once.

Now it was the Shadow Tribe who panicked.

In a narrow corridor, they could hold out despite being outnumbered, but in such a wide space, that advantage no longer applied.

No matter how capable they were of creating weapons from shadows, the North District awakened also possessed powerful abilities.

Moreover, they vastly outnumbered the Shadow Tribe.

There was no reason for them to be pushed back.

Having seized the momentum, the North District awakened drove the Shadow Tribe back even more fiercely.

Borin’s gaze swept around quickly.

She was looking for the person who had fired the flame arrow and opened a path for them.

It was not difficult to find him.

'Zeon?'

The man leisurely walking among the awakened with flames enveloping both hands was none other than Zeon.

He was the one who had broken through the blocked path.

Behind Zeon followed Hera and her subordinates.

The Shadow Tribe members who discovered them shouted.

“Hera! You traitor!”

“You’re siding with Neo Seoul?”

They were furious at Hera and the elves.

Because they had lived together in El Harun, the sense of betrayal felt even greater.

But neither Hera nor the elves showed the slightest wavering in the face of them.

“You came here to carry out assassinations, yet you dare talk big.”

Hera’s expression turned cold.

Her decision to leave El Harun had been made for the sake of the elves.

Even now, she did not regret that decision in the slightest.

Thanks to it, they had secured a safe place to stay in the Steel Fortress and had also been able to establish exchanges with the Forest of Beginning.

“Graaaah!”

The Shadow Tribe screamed as they charged at Hera.

As Hera drew her rapier, she spoke to Zeon.

“We’ll handle them, so go to Lady Serion.”

“Yes!”

With that reply, Zeon brushed past the Shadow Tribe.

The Shadow Tribe tried to stop him, but Hera, the elves, and the North District awakened blocked their way.

Thanks to that, Zeon was able to enter Serion’s residence without any interference.

As soon as he entered the room, he saw Serion collapsed on the floor, covered in blood.

Beside her head, Osollo had taken out a bizarre scale and was chanting some kind of spell.

A sinister red aura rose from the strange scale and flowed toward Serion’s head.

Instinctively, Zeon sensed that the moment that red aura touched Serion’s head, something terrible would happen.

Without another thought, he rapidly fired a barrage of Fire Missiles.

Boom boom boom boom!

The Fire Missiles struck the red aura and the scale in succession.

“Urgh!”

Osollo, who had been concentrating all his mental focus on using Bark’s Scale, was unable to block Zeon’s attack in time.

“Damn it! Just a little more and it would’ve been finished……”

Osollo’s face twisted.

To use the power of the Evil God contained within the scale, not even the slightest disruption could be tolerated.

Yet at the crucial moment, Zeon had interfered.

To turn Serion into a loyal servant, he would have to restart the entire process from the beginning.

“Argh! Zeon!”

It was only natural for Osollo to shriek at Zeon, who had ruined his ritual.

Seeing his reaction, Zeon let out a sigh of relief.

He was certain now that he had not arrived too late.

Zeon fired dozens more Fire Missiles at Osollo.

Boom boom boom!

Osollo used shadow whips to intercept every single Fire Missile.

“This level of attack cannot even damage a single hair on my body.”

“I know. That was never my intention.”

“What?”

“My objective from the beginning was to save Lady Serion.”

Before Osollo realized it, Serion was already in Zeon’s arms.

While Osollo’s attention had been diverted, Zeon had snatched her away.

Osollo’s fury exploded after losing Serion right before his eyes.

“You bastard!”

With a shriek, shadow spears burst from his body and attacked Zeon.

Zeon fired a Fire Spear to intercept the shadow spears.

Boom!

The two skills collided and exploded right in front of Zeon.

During that brief moment, Zeon retreated with Serion in his arms.

Right now, dealing with Osollo was not the issue. Protecting Serion came first.

“Sir Zeon!”

At that moment, Borin rushed inside.

Handing Serion over to her, Zeon said,

“Hurry and take Lady Serion out of here.”

“That man……”

“I’ll deal with him.”

“Understood.”

Without another word, Borin went outside.

She wanted to kill Osollo herself, but she knew that protecting Serion was the top priority right now.

Boom!

At that moment, a thunderous crash rang out, and a massive hole exploded open in Serion’s residence.

As the situation turned unfavorable, Osollo had smashed through the wall and escaped.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Osollo leapt down from dozens of floors high.

Shhhhk!

In that instant, black wings burst from his back.

He had created wings from shadows.

Like a hang glider, he glided through the air.

Osollo was heading straight for Neo Seoul’s main gate.

At this rate, Osollo would escape.

If he transformed back into Lee Yeolsan like when he entered, he could pass through easily.

The guards at Neo Seoul’s main gate still knew nothing about the incident in the North District.

“Tch!”

Clicking his tongue, Zeon launched himself forward.

Inside Neo Seoul, where there was barely any sand, moving like this was practically suicidal.

But Zeon had something he could rely on.

Shhhhhh!

A subspace opened, and an enormous amount of sand stored inside poured out.

Riding the sand, Zeon pursued Osollo.

“Damn it!”

Osollo’s face twisted as he glanced back.

The Zeon he thought would never be able to follow him was chasing after him at terrifying speed.

Osollo knew very well how terrifying Zeon’s abilities were.

After all, Zeon was the one who had killed the Black Queen in El Harun.

He had no confidence in defeating Zeon in a one-on-one fight.

Moreover, this was Neo Seoul, not El Harun.

Every environment and every person here was hostile to him.

Fighting Zeon in a place like this was suicide.

'At this point, I have to destroy the portal.'

By now, the other races of El Harun had probably almost reached the Steel Fortress.

The original plan had been to turn Serion to their side and have the demi-humans of the North District attack the inside of the Steel Fortress.

It was a plan established after Del Roa suddenly regained the memory of the portal’s existence through transference.

The Shadow Tribe, the race most specialized in infiltration among the other races, had taken on this mission.

But their plan had failed because of Zeon.

Now that Serion had been taken back, brainwashing her again was impossible.

Once the war began, Neo Seoul and the North District would send forces to the Steel Fortress through the portal.

El Harun was already at a disadvantage, and if reinforcements kept arriving through the portal like that, they would stand no chance.

If El Harun could not use it, then destroying it might be the better answer.

After escaping the North District using his shadow wings, Osollo quickly transformed back into Lee Yeolsan and passed through Neo Seoul’s main gate.

By the time Zeon arrived at the gate riding a sandstorm, Osollo had already disappeared.

But it was not difficult for Zeon to guess Osollo’s destination.

'He definitely went to where the portal is.'

To escape enemy territory like Neo Seoul, he absolutely had to use the portal.

And if he had no intention of escaping like this, then he would definitely destroy the portal.

Even Zeon would do the same in Osollo’s position.

Zeon immediately raced toward the portal.

In the distance, he saw Osollo’s back.

As soon as Osollo reached the vicinity of the portal, he launched himself into the air.

Then he tried to unleash a full-power skill toward the portal.

“What the hell?”

“Protect the portal!”

Only belatedly did the awakened guarding the portal shout, but Osollo moved faster.

A gigantic spear made of shadow shot toward the portal.

At this rate, the portal would suffer a tremendous impact.

No one could predict what the result would be.

Then it happened.

Crack!

A bolt of lightning fell from the sky and struck the shadow spear.

The shadow spear Osollo had fired with all his power vanished upon being struck by the lightning.

“What?”

Osollo’s eyes widened at the completely unexpected development.

At that very moment, another bolt of lightning descended and struck him.

Boom!

“Kgh!”

Osollo was blasted backward with a scream.

A ghost-like figure appeared in front of the portal.

It was Levin.

“Got you.”