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A tremendous amount of sand spun at high speed, creating a noise like a motor running.

For those trapped within the rapidly spinning sand, the sound was amplified several times over, inducing sheer terror.

“What the…?”

Victor’s facial muscles twitched under the immense pressure and deafening noise.

It wouldn’t have been a problem if it were just pressure, but the countless grains of sand were scraping away at his skin.

The weaker Paladins screamed in agony.

“Ugh!”

“Aaagh! Oh God!”

Some Paladins tried to deploy their Holy Shields, but it was futile. The high-speed sand particles shredded even the Holy Shields.

It was a sand hell.

All they could see was sand, and they couldn’t escape the immense pressure and cutting winds.

One Paladin, in a desperate attempt, swung his sword wildly to cut through the sand. But the sand, temporarily parted, quickly returned to its original state, continuing to tear at the Paladins’ skin and muscles.

“Argh!”

“Save me, please!”

Inside the Sand Mixer, hell had unfolded.

Screams, cries, and the blood of the Paladins mixed with the sand and vanished in an instant.

Blood-tears streamed from Victor’s eyes.

The fine sand particles had burrowed into his mucous membranes.

“This… can’t be!”

He desperately deployed his Holy Shield with all his strength.

The holy light wrapped around him warmly for a moment, but the comfort was short-lived as the excruciating pain returned.

The sand particles had shredded his Holy Shield in an instant.

He tried deploying the Holy Shield several more times, but it was useless.

The merciless sandstorm that had engulfed him and the Paladins disarmed everything like a tyrant.

“No, this can’t be! If we become enemies with this man, Dongdaemun will be destroyed!”

Unlike in Neo Seoul, there was no limit to the amount of sand that could be summoned here.

There was no need to conserve it, so Zeon gathered all the sand within his control and unleashed the Sand Mixer.

The Sand Mixer, unleashed at full power by Zeon, was beyond what Victor could handle.

“W-wait! Let’s talk…”

Victor tried to speak to Zeon in a last-ditch effort, but his voice never reached him.

The high-speed sand particles swallowed his voice.

Crunch!

The sword made from a special material turned to dust, and his fingers, hardened to be stronger than steel, were torn apart in a spray of blood.

There was no pain.

The body was being torn apart faster than the nerves could transmit the pain.

His elbows, shoulders, and torso were erased from this world as if erased by a giant eraser.

In his fading consciousness, Victor mumbled to himself.

‘That man… he’s not human. A demon, yes! A demon who defies God…’

That was Victor’s final thought.

With that thought, darkness overtook him, and it marked his end.

Pooof!

Victor was reduced to bloody sand and completely disappeared from this world.

Only then did Zeon dissipate the Sand Mixer, allowing the sand that had engulfed the Goblin Market to scatter in all directions.

“…”

It wasn’t just the sand that disappeared.

The Paladins who had been inside it were also gone without a trace.

The merchants who had come out of the Goblin Market were speechless at the unbelievable sight.

They had heard a lot about Zeon, but this was the first time they had actually seen him use his sand.

The power of the Sand Mixer they had witnessed firsthand far exceeded their imagination, filling them with immense fear.

“What… what did I just see?”

“Is that the true power of the Sand Mage?”

The merchants all had the same thought—they didn’t want to become enemies with Zeon.

They didn’t want to disappear without a trace like Victor and the Paladins, reduced to bloody sand.

Even Yoo Se-hee had a look of undisguised fear on her face.

She had known that Zeon was a Sand Mage and that he was an exceptionally powerful Awakened, but seeing him reduce the Paladins to nothing filled her with such shock that she couldn’t speak.

In contrast, Brielle and Levin called out to Zeon with bright smiles.

“Zeon!”

“Hyung!”

They didn’t care that others were afraid.

They hugged Zeon and rejoiced in their reunion.

Zeon gently patted them as he spoke.

“Are you both alright?”

“Yeah, thanks to you…”

“Are you okay, hyung?”

“I’m fine.”

After confirming each other’s safety, they pulled away from the embrace.

Only then did Yoo Se-hee, who had managed to collect herself, approach Zeon.

“That was incredible. You wiped out those troublesome Paladins in one go.”

“I needed to send them a clear warning.”

“To Johan?”

“Yes.”

“I thought so.”

Yoo Se-hee nodded in agreement.

Zeon’s method had definitely been excessive this time.

Up until now, Zeon had always maintained a line.

He was ruthless toward those who crossed it, but otherwise, he was rather lenient.

He generally avoided using his sand-based skills in front of people. Especially lethal skills like the one he had just used.

For him to unleash such a deadly skill in front of others was a blatant warning to Johan and Dongdaemun.

At that moment, Brielle pulled out the top-grade Mana Stone from the subspace in her conical hat.

“This…”

“You found it.”

“Yeah, we found it in the basement of the Holy Temple.”

Just then,

“So, it’s confirmed that they raided the NSSC and stole the top-grade Mana Stone.”

An old man’s voice echoed from behind them.

When they turned to look, they saw an old man with a cane and twin sisters approaching them.

Zeon recognized the old man immediately.

“Old Go.”

“You’ve really turned Neo Seoul upside down.”

“Because of you, it’s chaos.”

“It’s chaos because of Zeon.”

The ones speaking almost in unison were Old Go and the twin sisters.

Three of the Numbers had appeared.

Their appearance made Yoo Se-hee and several merchants from the Goblin Market tense up.

Those who tensed up were members of “Argos’s Eye,” they knew that the Numbers were the hidden blades of the market.

Old Go, accompanied by the twins, approached the top-grade Mana Stone.

“I didn’t do much, but I’ll take this. After all, it originally belonged to Neo Seoul.”

“For free?”

“Of course not.”

A sly smile creased the deep wrinkles around Old Go’s eyes.

* * *

Johan clasped his hands together and looked up at the cross in the Holy Temple.

His eyes, fixed on the cross, were bloodshot.

His aura was so intense that no one dared to enter the Holy Temple.

In truth, Johan was furious.

The top-grade Mana Stone, stored in the basement of the Holy Temple, had been stolen.

It was as if his God and his pride had been trampled.

Suddenly, he spoke.

“Have they not been caught yet?”

“The Vice-Captain led a force after them, so they’ll be captured soon.”

The one who answered was the Paladin Captain, Daison.

Despite Daison’s words, Johan’s hardened expression didn’t soften.

He walked over to where Daison stood. Daison’s face showed signs of tension.

Thud!

Suddenly, Daison’s head snapped to the side.

Johan had struck him without warning.

Daison’s face quickly swelled, and blood trickled down, but he kept his mouth shut, not uttering a single cry of pain.

Thud!

Johan’s fist slammed into Daison’s face again.

Despite receiving God’s grace, which made his body as strong as steel, Daison’s face was badly injured.

“Ugh!”

A groan of pain escaped Daison’s lips despite his efforts to suppress it.

Though it appeared to be a simple punch, it was far from ordinary.

Johan’s strikes carried the power of the being he believed to be God. That power penetrated the shields and bodies of the Paladins, causing internal destruction.

The sensation of his cells and muscles being torn apart was agonizing, even for Daison, the Captain of the Paladins.

Johan was the Alpha and Omega of Dongdaemun.

His ability could amplify the power of the Paladins, or just as easily strip it away.

That’s why the Paladins both feared and followed Johan.

In the end, Daison couldn’t endure the pain and fell to his knees.

“What if the Vice-Captain fails to capture them?”

“That…”

“Then what will you do? Jin Geum-ho will surely take action. Can you handle it?”

“I’m sorry.”

“If you understand, then move quickly.”

“Yes, sir!”

Daison replied and ran out.

As Johan watched Daison’s retreating figure, he muttered to himself.

“Useless…”

He had kept Daison around because of his unwavering loyalty, but now Johan was growing weary of his incompetence.

As Johan considered replacing the Paladin Captain, he looked back at the cross.

The glowing red cross seemed to deliver a revelation to him.

He prayed to God.

“Lord, please, deliver your wrath upon them. Inflict upon them the pain of burning their souls with fire and deliver their bodies to me so I may crush them underfoot.”

At that moment—

“Hey, isn’t that prayer a little too savage for someone who calls himself a man of God?”

A voice echoed from the entrance of the Holy Temple.

Johan’s eyebrow twitched.

It was a voice he had never heard before.

Johan stopped praying and turned around to see the owner of the voice.

It was a middle-aged man wearing a suit that showed off his slim yet muscular physique, holding a cane adorned with a blue gemstone.

His neatly combed blond hair, blue eyes, and well-groomed beard gave him an impressive appearance.

Johan’s eyes narrowed sharply at the sight of this stranger.

“Who are you? How did you get past the Paladins outside?”

There were many Paladins standing guard outside.

With the theft of the top-grade Mana Stone, security was several times tighter than usual.

Yet this middle-aged man had suddenly appeared, having bypassed the entire security detail.

Johan couldn’t help but be wary.

The middle-aged man grinned and said,

“Your friends outside? They just let me in.”

“That can’t be.”

“Just believe me. It’s better for your health.”

The man chuckled.

In contrast, Johan’s face grew even more rigid.

This was the Holy Temple, the heart of Dongdaemun.

There was no way the Paladins would let a stranger in without a fight. And yet, the man had entered without causing any commotion, which meant he was incredibly strong.

Strong enough to subdue all the Paladins standing guard outside without Johan even noticing.

“Are you from… the City Hall?”

“Did you receive divine guidance? You figured it out so quickly.”

“The Numbers?”

“Hoho!”

Instead of answering, the middle-aged man gave a meaningful smile.

Johan’s face hardened further.

The Numbers.

The execution unit directly under Mayor Jin Geum-ho’s command.

Johan knew the faces of a few of them. But this middle-aged man was someone he had never seen before.

The Numbers whose faces he hadn’t seen were the highest-ranked among them.

“Why has a Number come here?”

“Are you asking because you don’t know?”

“Could it be…?”

“You’ve caused quite a stir. Colluding with Lee Ji-ryeong to steal the top-grade Mana Stone.”

“…”

“You didn’t really think the Mayor wouldn’t find out, did you?”

The middle-aged man’s voice dropped a tone.

In contrast, Johan’s sense of danger heightened.

The Numbers wouldn’t act without certainty.

This meant they had evidence that Johan and Lee Ji-ryeong had worked together to steal the Mana Stone.

There was no use in denying it.

He needed a scapegoat.

“It was all Lee Ji-ryeong’s plan. I only cooperated because I was threatened.”

“Blaming the dead? That’s a classic move.”

“Dead? Don’t tell me the Numbers killed Lee Ji-ryeong?”

“We didn’t have the chance. Lee Ji-ryeong was killed by the Sand Mage.”

“The Sand Mage? So, Zeon killed Lee Ji-ryeong…”

The facade of calm that Johan had been struggling to maintain began to crack.

———-