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Handcuffs were placed on the wrists of Zeon and Eloy.

These weren’t ordinary handcuffs.

They were restraints designed to control the flow of mana.

Once these cuffs, which encapsulated Neo Seoul’s advanced technology, were locked on, mana instantly hardened like a stone, rendering it immobile.

This made it impossible to use any skills that required mana.

Eloy, now handcuffed, started yelling.

“Damn it! I told you we didn’t kill them. Are your eyes just for show? Do you really think this looks like something we did?”

“Shut up!”

An NSSC Awakened slapped tape over Eloy’s mouth and shoved her into the buggy car.

“I’ll get in on my own.”

Zeon, smiling, boarded the buggy car.

Kevin glared at Zeon with a menacing look.

“What’s your game? You think I’ll let you off just because you’re acting like this?”

“The truth will come out. For now, I simply have no desire to shed blood with you.”

“So you’re sticking to your story till the end.”

“If I had really killed them, you wouldn’t have found any traces.”

“……”

“In any case, the truth will be revealed soon enough.”

With those words, Zeon fell silent.

Kevin’s jaw muscles twitched.

He knew that Zeon was the Sand Mage.

If Zeon had truly intended to cover his tracks, the NSSC would have never found the site where Team 2 was wiped out, no matter how hard they tried.

‘Could what he’s saying be true?’

Doubt crept into Kevin’s mind.

Just then, the Awakeneds reported back to him.

“There’s no one around.”

“Everything has been incinerated by the explosion.”

Kevin surveyed the surroundings.

All around was sand.

There was nowhere to hide, nowhere to conceal anything.

What he saw was all there was.

Nodding, Kevin climbed into the buggy car.

“Everyone, return to Neo Seoul.”

“Yes, sir!”

The NSSC left the scene immediately.

After they departed, something emerged from the sand.

It was Levin, translucent like a specter.

It wasn’t surprising that Levin had turned into a ghostly form, as his primary skill was precisely that—ghostification.

What was truly surprising was that there was a girl in ghost form beside him.

It was Brielle.

Brielle, like Levin, had become translucent.

“What is this?”

“Surprised?”

“You can turn others into ghosts too?”

“Only if we stay close. We have to be in contact.”

As if to prove Levin’s point, he was tightly holding Brielle’s hand.

After reaching B-rank, he had mastered a new skill.

One of those was the ability to ghostify others through physical contact.

Though he could only manage one additional person, its utility had greatly increased.

The moment the NSSC appeared, Zeon had told Levin,

‘You two, hide.’

Without a second thought, Levin had grabbed Brielle’s hand and ghostified.

The two hid in the sand in their ghost forms.

Although Kevin, the leader of the NSSC, had sharp senses, he failed to detect them. That’s why he had left the scene without further issue.

Brielle, watching the buggy car recede into the distance, spoke.

“Zeon told us to hide because he wants us to find evidence, right?”

“Yeah! We need to find proof that Johan orchestrated and led this.”

“Do you think we can do it by ourselves?”

“Whether it’s possible or not, we have to make it happen.”

“Let’s start by heading back to the slums. If we dig there, we’ll find something.”

“Impressive! You’re not even flustered.”

Levin looked at Brielle with admiration, to which she pouted her lips.

“I’ve suffered so much at the hands of humans that I’ve gotten used to it. If you’d been trapped underground making drugs day and night, you’d be like me too.”

“You’re stronger than me.”

“As long as you understand that, it’s enough. Let’s move quickly.”

“Alright!”

Levin nodded and moved while still in ghost form. Brielle followed suit, flying through the air with him.

* * *

A man in priestly robes was praying before a giant cross.

After reciting the prayer for a long time, the man opened his eyes.

He had neatly slicked-back hair, thick horn-rimmed glasses, and small eyes that curved into arcs—a middle-aged man with an impressive appearance. He was Johan, the ruler of Dongdaemun.

Satisfied with his prayer, Johan smiled contentedly.

“Good! Excellent! I feel like something good is going to happen.”

He felt as if he had been blessed; his body was in great condition.

Whenever he felt like this, something good always happened.

Johan believed this time would be no different. And his intuition was right.

“Zeon has been captured by the NSSC.”

Joshua, the inquisitor, delivered the delightful news.

“Are you certain?”

“I saw it with my own eyes. He’s currently imprisoned in the NSSC’s jail.”

“Is the NSSC prison reliable?”

“It’s located fifty meters underground. It’s made of special metals that prevent the infiltration of not just sand but any external substances. Furthermore, it completely blocks external mana and flow, making it impossible for an Awakened to use their abilities.”

“Excellent!”

Johan smiled with satisfaction.

The science and technology of Neo Seoul, combined with magic, had far surpassed the technological level of Earth a hundred years ago.

Scientists had created items to control Awakeneds, one of which was the mana-restricting handcuffs. The NSSC prison was an extension of that.

Once trapped in this space, completely isolated from the outside, one couldn’t use mana at all.

It was, quite literally, the worst environment for an Awakened.

As long as Zeon was imprisoned in the NSSC jail, he would be utterly powerless.

“To receive such good information… It seems I’ve chosen my business partners well.”

“Lee Ji-ryeong is not someone to be trusted.”

“Are you advising me, Joshua?”

“No, I’m just concerned…”

“I know exactly what you’re worried about. But you don’t need to worry at all. God is on our side.”

A chilling smile played on Johan’s lips as he looked up at the giant cross.

Joshua, the inquisitor, could say nothing in response.

Johan was the pinnacle of Dongdaemun.

Numerous paladins and clergy operated around him.

His command was equivalent to God’s command.

Johan spoke.

“Now that the obstacle is gone, we can completely take over Shinchon. Find Ethan and eliminate him, and establish the sanctuary of God at their base.”

Joshua trembled.

He could smell the thick scent of blood in Johan’s voice.

The curtain was rising on a war to claim dominance over the slums.

No one knew how many would perish.

Even Joshua, who was accustomed to blood, trembled uncontrollably with fear.

* * *

“It’s incredible.”

That was Zeon’s impression of being in the prison.

It was truly incredible.

The walls were seamlessly smooth, without a single gap, and mana was completely blocked off, rendering it impossible to feel.

It was the worst environment for an Awakened.

“Damn it! Why did we let ourselves get captured? We have no reason to be here.”

Right next to him, Eloy was shouting angrily.

Having lost the Mad Gumiho, Eloy was furious to the point of bursting.

Since the moment her beloved weapon had left her hands, her anxiety had been so severe that her mind was unstable.

As a result, she kept pacing back and forth, spouting nonsense.

Zeon understood her.

If he had lost the Inferno Gauntlet, he might have reacted the same way.

Fortunately, he hadn’t lost the Inferno Gauntlet.

More precisely, the NSSC hadn’t been able to take the Inferno Gauntlet from him.

The Inferno Gauntlet, embedded with the eye of a dragon, couldn’t be removed without Zeon’s consent.

Since they couldn’t very well cut off his arm, the NSSC had wrapped Zeon’s right arm in restraints instead.

This meant that the item’s power couldn’t be utilized at all.

As a result, Zeon couldn’t even open his subspace.

His abilities were completely sealed.

And yet, Zeon didn’t seem particularly anxious.

He marveled at Neo Seoul’s technology as he examined the prison.

“With technology like this, no other colonies can keep up.”

The technological gap between Neo Seoul and other colonies was at least several decades.

Compared to newly established colonies like the Iron Fortress, the gap was over a hundred years.

It meant that they would need a hundred years of effort just to catch up. The problem was that Neo Seoul wouldn’t stand still during that time, so the gap would never close.

There was no way to narrow this gap.

Well, there was one way.

It would be if Neo Seoul collapsed spectacularly.

But as things stood, that seemed utterly impossible.

Unless the catastrophe that had turned Earth into a desert a hundred years ago were to happen again, there was no chance of Neo Seoul’s downfall.

Eloy, who had finally calmed down a bit, asked Zeon,

“So, what do we do now?”

“We wait.”

“For what?”

“Someone will definitely reach out to us while we’re here.”

“Who?”

“Anyone.”

“Isn’t that a bit too vague?”

“Calm down. Even they won’t think we’ll be stuck here for long.”

“They?”

“The ones who orchestrated all this.”

“You mean Johan?”

“He’s one of them.”

“Alright! So, you’re saying we’ll be out of here soon?”

“Yes!”

“Whew!”

Eloy felt a little reassured by Zeon’s confident response.

After catching her breath for a moment, Eloy apologized.

“I’m sorry!”

“It’s fine. I’d probably react the same way if my weapon were taken.”

“Thanks for understanding.”

“Just think of it as taking a rest before the big fight.”

“A big fight? Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Eloy clenched her fists.

The ones who had gone to such lengths to trap them wouldn’t just leave them alone. Whether they liked it or not, a fierce battle was bound to happen.

Until then, she needed to rest and prepare her body for optimal condition.

“Maybe Mandy should be the one to stay here right now, rather than me. She’d be much calmer.”

Suddenly, Eloy’s expression changed.

Zeon asked her,

“Mandy, is it?”

“Yes! I’m sorry. Eloy got too worked up.”

“It’s alright.”

“When the fight starts, she’ll come back to the forefront. Until then, I’ll stay out.”

“You don’t need to get my permission. Do what’s comfortable for you, Mandy.”

“Thank you, as always. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have made it back here safely.”

Mandy bowed her head in gratitude.

Just as Zeon was feeling a bit awkward about the gesture,

Bang, bang!

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door of the prison.

When Zeon looked toward the door, a small window slid open, revealing someone’s face.

With hair that had gone completely white and eyes surrounded by wrinkles.

Zeon instantly recognized who it was.

“Old Go?”

“It’s been a while.”

The old man who smiled at Zeon was none other than Old Go, a member of the Numbers.

“We’re here too.”

Familiar voices came from either side of Old Go. It was the twin sisters, Eun Sujin and Eun Suyoung, who always hung around with him.

They stepped on the ledge and peeked their faces through the window.

“Hello!”

They waved and smiled.

——–