novelraw Chapter 580
Chapter 580
Chapter 580
Zeon was walking through the desert.
But he was not alone.
Levin, Tesserina, and several others were following behind him.
“Hoo!”
The woman who stopped for a moment and looked out over the desert had pointed ears.
She possessed extraordinary elegance and beauty, it was none other than Serion, the ruler of the North District.
Beside Serion were the elites of the North District.
“You didn’t have to come out yourselves.”
“Lady Serion is going, so of course we must accompany you.”
The one who replied was the Black Lake Guardians, the elite force of the North District.
They were elites composed entirely of elves.
The Black Lake Guardians were escorts who protected Serion, the ruler of the North District, at close range.
Though few in number, every one of them was a powerful figure in the North District.
It was only natural that they would accompany Serion on her excursion.
Raphael, the captain of the Black Lake Guardians, spoke cautiously.
“But do you really have to go this far? Sending another elf would have been enough.”
“Raphael, are you worried about me?”
“That’s not it…”
“I understand. It’s been a hundred years since I personally came out into the desert. But you know as well, Raphael. Before that, I fought monsters in the desert too.”
“Of course, I’m not underestimating your abilities, Lady Serion. It’s just that I’m worried…”
“I know. But this matter cannot be entrusted to someone else. I want to see it with my own eyes. The place where Lord Zeon plans to install the new portal…”
“Hmm.”
“Don’t worry, Raphael. Going with Lord Zeon is safer than staying in Neo Seoul.”
Serion’s gaze turned toward Zeon.
Zeon was engaged in a long conversation with Levin and Tesserina.
Even in the middle of the desert, their expressions and attitudes were full of ease.
There was a confidence that the desert’s monsters could do nothing to them.
Even the Black Lake Guardians escorting Serion could not hide their tense expressions.
The Black Lake Guardians were all remarkable awakeners. Every one of them was A-rank, and none of Neo Seoul’s awakeners could easily match them.
Yet even they could not hide their stiff expressions after coming into the desert.
It was because they rarely had reason to come out into the desert while protecting Serion.
To them, the desert was an unknown world.
Just the thought of protecting Serion safely in such an unfamiliar place already made them tense.
Serion believed their worries were completely unnecessary.
If they knew Lady Tesserina’s true identity, they wouldn’t worry like that.
Though she had the form of a human, Tesserina’s true nature was that of a dragon.
Serion had once encountered a dragon in Kurayan, so she recognized the distinctive presence.
The other elves had absolutely no idea.
Judging by how comfortably Zeon and Levin spoke with Tesserina, it seemed they knew she was a dragon as well.
With Zeon, the strongest sand mage in the desert, and Tesserina, a dragon, traveling together, it would be stranger if there were danger.
But Serion could not tell Raphael and the others what she knew.
She didn’t want to reveal Tesserina’s identity and risk irritating her.
Zeon glanced at Serion and spoke.
“If you’re done resting, let’s depart.”
“Yes!”
Serion answered and began moving again.
The Black Lake Guardians followed behind her.
Zeon looked back at them diligently following and smiled.
At that moment, Tesserina spoke to Zeon cautiously.
“But is there really a reason to bring them to a place like the Forest of Origin?”
Their destination was the Forest of Origin where Gohar resided.
He was taking the group to the place where the first green forest had revived on Earth.
Tesserina’s face, as she headed toward the Forest of Origin, was filled with excitement.
She had already experienced the World Tree village, but the thought of seeing another forest excited her.
Although she had heard about it from Zeon and Levin, this would be her first time visiting the Forest of Origin.
For some reason, she didn’t like the idea of bringing the North District elves to a forest she herself was visiting for the first time.
That was why she said this.
Zeon replied with an indifferent expression.
“We need a buffer.”
“A buffer?”
“In the Forest of Origin, there are not only humans but also many dark elves. They aren’t very fond of interacting with other humans.”
“That makes sense. They’ve suffered a lot of persecution. So your idea is to have dark elves and regular elves meet and ease their wariness.”
“More precisely, to help them understand each other’s positions. After all, they’ve lived in different environments for over a hundred years.”
“I see. I understand.”
Tesserina nodded and looked at Serion and the Black Lake Guardians.
They kept slipping as they walked, clearly unaccustomed to traveling through the desert.
They looked different from elves who had spent a long time in the desert.
Tesserina sighed.
“If we’re traveling with baggage like that, it’s going to take quite a while.”
Zeon, Levin, and Tesserina all possessed the ability to fly.
If not for Serion’s group, they could have already flown through the sky and arrived at the Forest of Origin.
Levin smiled at the grumbling Tesserina and said,
“It’s not like we’re in a hurry anyway, noona. Let’s just take it easy.”
“Fine. Got it.”
“It’s nice walking like this for once. It almost feels like we’re going on a trip.”
“That’s true.”
Tesserina nodded.
In order to install a portal, Zeon had to personally visit the location.
That was why he had left Neo Seoul and was heading toward the Forest of Origin.
“Still, once the Forest of Origin is opened, Neo Seoul is going to be turned upside down.”
“It’ll probably be on a completely different level from anything so far.”
Levin replied with a serious expression.
When the Steel Fortress and the Magic Stone Mine were connected, people had already been shocked and astonished.
But the impact of the Forest of Origin would surely be incomparable.
Everything in the world had been covered by sand, and forests survived only in extremely small areas.
El Harun and the green zone deep within Neo Seoul were the only ones.
No one even knew El Harun existed, and the green zone deep within Neo Seoul could not be entered at all.
Even high-rank awakeners considered forests to be a fantastical space they could neither enter nor touch.
Naturally, a vast forest was beyond imagination.
But if a massive forest existed in a place accessible through a portal, everyone would surely lose their minds and rush toward it.
“But will the people there even like others coming?”
“Of course they won’t.”
“Yet you’re still installing a portal?”
“I’ll just install it for now. The decision will be theirs. But they can’t live closed off forever. In the end, if they want to move toward the future, they’ll have to interact with others.”
When Zeon made this decision, he had calculated that the Forest of Origin must have stabilized considerably by now.
Various incidents had happened, preventing him from visiting it for a while.
He didn’t know how much the green land had expanded during that time.
He could only guess that it had become much larger than before.
Just then—
Zeon’s senses detected the approach of a monster.
He immediately warned Serion.
“A sandworm is approaching from one kilometer underground ahead.”
“A sandworm?”
Raphael stepped in front of Serion.
At some point a rapier had appeared in his hand.
He had drawn his weapon to protect Serion from the sandworm.
Zeon spoke to him.
“Put the weapon away.”
“But…”
“There’s no need to fight unnecessarily.”
“What do you mean?”
Raphael looked at Zeon with a puzzled expression.
Rustle—
At that moment, sand dust rose in the distance.
It was proof that the sandworm had risen close to the surface.
Just as Zeon said, the sandworm had detected Serion’s group and was approaching directly.
Zeon called Levin.
“Levin!”
“Got it, hyung!”
Even though Zeon hadn’t explained anything, Levin nodded as if it were obvious and flew into the sky.
“Wow!”
“He really looks like a ghost.”
The Black Lake Guardians exclaimed in admiration as they saw Levin’s ghost form for the first time.
Levin, in ghost form, flew above the sandworm in an instant.
Then he dropped lightning.
Flash!
The powerful lightning did not deal much damage to the sandworm beneath the sand.
It only gave it a slight sting.
From the beginning, Levin had never intended to kill the sandworm with the lightning.
He only wanted to give it enough of a shock to divert its attention.
And Levin’s intention worked perfectly.
The sandworm’s attention shifted to Levin.
Flash!
Levin fired light bolts of lightning, luring the sandworm away from the group.
The sandworm chased Levin enthusiastically, running off in the wrong direction.
After luring it far away, Levin returned to the group.
They had avoided one of the desert’s greatest threats—the sandworm—without expending any effort.
The Black Lake Guardians clicked their tongues in amazement at Levin’s performance.
It was a method they could never have imagined.
‘So this is why they can travel freely through the desert.’
After that, they encountered monsters several more times, but Zeon’s group either avoided or defeated them without difficulty.
As a result, the Black Lake Guardians felt somewhat awkward.
They had followed to protect Serion, yet there had been no situation where they needed to step in.
The journey was so peaceful it almost felt wrong.
The same was true when they camped.
Zeon chose places where monsters would absolutely never attack.
Using his dominion, he observed the movements of nearby monsters and selected locations that didn’t overlap with their paths.
Thanks to that, Serion’s group could spend the night comfortably without worrying about attacks.
“Is this really okay?”
Serion even found herself muttering that.
In her hand was a warm cup of herbal tea.
The herbal tea was something she had brought, and Levin had boiled the water.
Thanks to that, she could enjoy the luxury of drinking herbal tea in the middle of the desert.
If travel were always like this, she felt she could do it many more times.
As soon as they finished their simple meal, Zeon spoke.
“If you’re done eating, let’s move.”
“Yes, hyung.”
“Alright.”
Levin and Tesserina were the first to clean up and stand.
Serion and the Black Lake Guardians hurriedly packed up as well.
Zeon started moving immediately without even checking the direction.
Serion couldn’t understand it.
“A compass is useless here, so how does he even determine the direction?”
“I don’t understand it either.”
Raphael shook his head.
Levin, who had overheard their conversation, laughed and said,
“Don’t try to understand it. Just accept it. In the desert, anything is possible for Hyung Zeon.”
Levin’s voice was filled with deep trust toward Zeon.
Having spent more time with Zeon than anyone else, he knew his abilities well.
Just as Serion nodded silently—
Thud! Thud!
A powerful vibration suddenly came from the ground.
“What was that? Another monster?”
“Everyone prepare for battle!”
The Black Lake Guardians became flustered at the vibration, which was on a completely different level from before.
But Zeon simply stood still and stared silently toward the direction the vibration was coming from.
If a giant monster were approaching, he should at least be on guard.
Yet instead, a smile appeared on Zeon’s lips.
Levin spoke to him.
“Hyung! It’s that thing, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Haha! We’re lucky to see it again here.”
At their cryptic conversation, Tesserina asked with an annoyed expression,
“That thing? What thing?”
“Noona.”
“Yes?”
“Have you ever seen a walking fortress?”
“Come on. Something like that exists?”
“It does. Look over there. It’s the mobile fortress, Arkelon.”
Where Levin pointed, an ginormous turtle was slowly walking toward them.