armyinform Chapter 638
Chapter 638
Chapter 638
Fragments of Cobaltan’s sword scattered in all directions.
Amid the shards exploding outward like a bomb, Zeon saw a violet crystal.
‘Krasias’s Thought Stone?’
Zeon recognized the crystal’s identity instantly.
He had already encountered it several times before.
Zeon fired a Fire Missile to destroy the crystal.
At that moment, the violet crystal avoided the Fire Missile like a living creature and disappeared from sight in an instant.
‘Damn it!’
Zeon clenched his teeth.
He knew it was already too late to chase after it.
His mana was depleted, and his stamina had completely bottomed out, leaving him without the strength to pursue it. Even if he did chase it, it didn’t seem likely he could catch it.
Whoosh!
Zeon plummeted downward at terrifying speed.
His mana had run dry, making it impossible to maintain control over the sand. But Zeon was not worried.
—Ppiii!
Before he knew it, Gaia had risen up and gently caught Zeon’s falling body.
“Thank you, Gaia.”
—Ppi!
“You came back.”
—Ppiii!
“I’m glad to see you again too.”
—Ppi! Ppippi!
“Yeah! Whew! I’ll rest for a bit.”
Zeon lay flat on Gaia’s back and closed his eyes.
The fight against Dantal wielding Cobaltan’s sword had not been easy at all.
The wounds inflicted by the god-slaying weapon were necrotizing even at this very moment.
The destruction was spreading from his internal cells outward.
He had gone through countless battles and suffered countless injuries, but this was the first time he had felt such horrifying pain.
Only because Zeon possessed super regeneration was he enduring this much. Any ordinary awakened would already have succumbed as the wounds worsened.
Gaia landed softly on the ground so Zeon would not suffer any impact.
As the gigantic Gaia, whose body exceeded a hundred meters, descended in front of the Steel Fortress, chaos erupted.
“Crazy!”
“That’s the first time I’ve seen a magic beast that huge.”
Lower-ranked awakened were terrified by Gaia’s size and did not even dare step outside the Steel Fortress.
Even high-ranking awakened like the Numbers looked at Gaia with wary eyes.
If Zeon had not been riding on Gaia’s back, they might have attacked.
That was how overwhelming Gaia’s size and pressure were.
“Whew! Thank you.”
After getting down, Zeon pressed his forehead against Gaia’s face.
Gaia closed his eyes and felt Zeon’s warmth, while Zeon stroked Gaia’s massive head.
After a moment, Zeon pulled away and said,
“You worked hard. Once you recover, I’ll call you again, so go up and rest.”
—Ppii!
“Yeah! It won’t take long.”
—Ppi!
Gaia floated upward gently like a balloon, then vanished into the clouds at frightening speed.
“Zeon!”
“Hyung!”
Brielle and Levin ran toward Zeon.
Noticing immediately that Zeon’s condition was far from normal, they brought him straight to where Lemura was.
Lemura poured all her strength into treating Zeon’s wounds.
Even with her abilities, healing Zeon’s injuries was not easy.
That was how terrifying the divine-slaying authority contained within Cobaltan’s sword was.
But in the end, Zeon managed to recover.
His own super regeneration combined with Lemura’s overwhelmingly powerful healing ability had saved him.
“Whew! Thank you, Lemura.”
“It’s nothing, Oppa Zeon!”
Sweat dripped down Lemura’s face as she shook her head.
She had exhausted herself completely healing Zeon.
After thanking Lemura once more, Zeon picked up the robe he had taken off.
“This is unusable now.”
Zeon shook his head.
The robe made from Balrog hide, which possessed tremendous defense and self-restoration abilities, had been reduced to rags.
The parts struck by Cobaltan’s sword were not restoring themselves and were instead crumbling apart.
At this point, it seemed better to discard it and obtain a new robe.
After throwing away the robe, Zeon stepped outside.
“Lord Zeon!”
Latrisha was the first to approach him.
“Lady Latrisha.”
“I apologize.”
“For what?”
Zeon looked puzzled at Latrisha’s apology.
“We revealed the spirits and the World Tree Village to the world without discussing it with you first. I’m sorry.”
“No.”
Zeon shook his head.
It had deviated from the original plan, but there had been no choice.
If the High Elves and spirits had not stepped forward in time, the Steel Fortress would have been completely destroyed by Del Roa’s rampage.
In the end, they had saved countless lives within the Steel Fortress, so their existence being exposed was not a problem.
At that moment, Hera approached Latrisha and greeted her respectfully.
“Hera of the Forest Clan greets Lady Latrisha.”
Hera’s eyes trembled violently as she looked at Latrisha.
“Lady Hera.”
“Lady Latrisha!”
Hera knelt before Latrisha.
Hot tears streamed down her face.
Latrisha looked flustered by Hera’s reaction.
“Why are you doing this, Lady Hera?”
“I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry.”
“Please don’t do this.”
“We abandoned you, yet you all preserved the World Tree and the spirits…”
Hera could not continue speaking.
She had known Latrisha since their days in Kurayan.
When High Elf Latrisha chose not to join El Harun and instead walk an independent path, Hera had thought her foolish, yet she had not tried to stop her.
At the time, she had already been struggling just to take care of the elves.
Moreover, being together with the High Elves—beings far more noble than ordinary elves—had burdened her. So when Latrisha said she would act separately with the High Elves, Hera had not strongly objected.
And so more than a hundred years passed.
During all those long years, Hera had never once worried about how the High Elves were living or tried to find them.
She had completely forgotten them.
If not for this situation, it would likely have taken her much longer to even remember Latrisha and the High Elves.
The elves who had settled comfortably in El Harun had not changed at all over the past century. But the High Elves and Dark Elves who chose the harsh desert life had each pioneered their own homes—the World Tree Village and the Primordial Forest.
And they had gained companions called spirits.
The harsh desert had rewarded those who endured and survived through a hundred years.
The gap between the elf groups had become so vast it could no longer be bridged.
Only then did Hera realize it.
To obtain something great, one had to put in an equally great amount of effort.
Latrisha embraced the regretful Hera and helped her stand.
“Please get up, Lady Hera.”
“Will you forgive me?”
“What is there to forgive? We all simply had our own ways of surviving.”
“Lady Latrisha!”
“There’s so much I want to show you. Would you like to come to the World Tree Village with us?”
“Would that really be alright?”
“Why wouldn’t it? Since things have turned out this way, I’ll show our village to you and the other elves.”
“But Neo Seoul also…”
“It won’t be too late to sit at the negotiation table after Lord Zeon organizes things on this side. Right, Lord Zeon?”
Latrisha looked at Zeon with a gentle smiling gaze.
“Yes. I’ll handle things here.”
“Thank you. Then I’ll return to the World Tree Village for now and come back later.”
“Please do.”
Zeon readily accepted Latrisha’s proposal.
Everything was still in chaos.
The inside of the Steel Fortress needed to be organized, and the casualties needed to be dealt with.
Under such circumstances, immediately opening the World Tree Village and beginning negotiations would be unreasonable.
It was better to give everyone time and prepare the negotiating table once things had calmed down.
“Thank you. Then I’ll see you next time, Lord Zeon.”
“Yes.”
After bowing to Zeon, Latrisha entered the portal together with Hera.
Following behind her, the High Elves and Dark Elves returned to their respective villages through the portal.
The people left behind could not hide their disappointment, but only for a moment.
“Everyone, get yourselves together and tend to the wounded first. We need to save as many people as possible.”
Seo Taeran’s roar fell like a thunderclap.
The leaders of each sector quickly regained their senses and began issuing orders to their subordinates.
“Rescue the wounded and gather the corpses in one place.”
“Get the injured inside the Steel Fortress before magic beasts smell the blood and swarm here.”
Under their command, the awakened moved busily.
They overturned the desert in front of the Steel Fortress while searching for survivors.
“Give potions to those with light injuries, and send the severely wounded to where Lady Lemura is.”
“Check carefully for anyone buried in the sand.”
“We found one here. Bring a stretcher.”
“There’s another survivor here.”
Everyone worked together with one heart to rescue the wounded and carry them into the Steel Fortress.
“Whew.”
Only then did Zeon lean against a wall and let out a sigh.
Seeing the situation being resolved smoothly brought him relief.
At that moment, Jin Geumho approached Zeon.
“You’ve worked hard.”
“You too, Mayor.”
“What did I even do? The people who gathered to protect the Steel Fortress are the ones who accomplished this.”
“It turned out the way you wanted, didn’t it?”
“Thanks to you.”
Jin Geumho nodded.
Through this battle, he had wanted everyone to develop strong bonds. Only then could they unite firmly around Neo Seoul if another situation like this ever arose.
“Still, I never imagined the final place you installed a portal would be the World Tree Village.”
“I’m sorry for hiding it.”
“No. If it were me, I would have hidden it carefully too. It’s that important a place.”
“It’s the only hope for saving Earth. I had to protect it no matter what.”
“If the World Tree grows, Earth will eventually regain its greenery too, won’t it?”
“It will.”
“Then we absolutely must protect it.”
“Yes.”
“You must be exhausted, so get some proper rest. We’ll talk in detail again after things here are cleaned up.”
Jin Geumho patted Zeon’s shoulder a couple of times before leaving.
Once he was gone, Levin and Brielle approached.
“How are you, Hyung?”
“Are you okay?”
Even though they knew he had been treated by Lemura, they could not hide their worried expressions.
“I’m fine now. You don’t need to worry.”
“That’s a relief.”
“You had us worried.”
Levin sighed in relief, while Brielle lightly punched Zeon’s shoulder with her tiny fist.
“You all worked hard. Thanks to you, we were able to protect the Steel Fortress.”
“It was nothing.”
“You worked hard too, Zeon.”
—Hehe!
At that moment, Lili appeared above Brielle’s head.
Lili no longer hid her existence.
Everyone already knew about her now.
Looking at Lili, Zeon tilted his head.
“You seem different somehow.”
—You noticed?
“You grew.”
—Yep! I became a high-ranking spirit.
“How?”
—Hehe! I received the Spirit King’s blessing.
Lili spread both arms wide and flew upward. A refreshing breeze blew in, cooling the sweat on Zeon’s body.
It wasn’t just Lili.
Lili, Gaia, and even the fire spirit had all grown after receiving the Spirit Kings’ blessing.
At last, the age of spirits was beginning.