Chapter 449

Neria’s body, stripped of its scales, was exceedingly fragile.

Though her energy field protected her in place of her scales, it wasn’t enough to completely shield her from Zeon’s Sand Mixer.

The Sand Mixer, charged with unbearable heat, scraped away her field from the surface.

Crack-crack-crack!

The energy field shattered, and her flesh was ground away by the sand.

Neria thought the sight was beautiful.

All beginnings must have an end.

And she knew her end had come.

, Noooo!

Mars screamed from within her core.

Neria had accepted it, but Mars had not.

Mars, who had once lost his temple and divinity, refused to vanish like this.

He tried to exert the last of his divine power to heal their body once again, but Neria’s will suppressed the activation of his divinity.

Let’s stop now.

, Why? You haven’t let go of your anger either. Then why?

You’re right. It’s not gone completely.

, Then you must take revenge.

This is not our world. The world that made us what we are no longer exists. Why destroy what remains?

, That’s why we should destroy even more.

No. I want to end it here.

, Neria! Are you betraying me?

I’m sorry.

Neria ignored Mars’s cry.

She simply wanted to end it all.

Her life as the Black Queen.

Her life as Neria.

Even Mars’s lingering obsession.

She wanted to cut away everything that bound her.

And now she had met someone who could finally kill her.

If she missed this chance, she might never die.

Neria looked straight at Zeon and spoke.

“Erase me from this world completely.”

“Lady Neria!”

“This is not my world. My world was destroyed. So it’s only right that I be destroyed with it. Burn me away until not even a single cell remains. Otherwise, the Black Queen’s obsession will bring me back.”

“I understand.”

“I’ll trust you.”

Neria smiled.

Zeon thought her smile was dazzling.

Crack-crack-crack!

Even as he watched, she continued to be torn apart.

The sand, spinning fiercely and filled with fire, was grinding her body away at the atomic level.

Her body was breaking down, scattering into particles smaller than sand. Yet there was no trace of anger or regret on her face.

Instead, she looked at Zeon with a peaceful expression.

Zeon looked back at her in silence.

Then, Neria reached out her hand toward him.

“I came across this by chance. I hope it helps you in your path.”

In her hand appeared a large scale.

It was black, larger and darker than the scales that had once covered her massive body as the Black Queen.

“What is this?”

“The scale of the great dragon Arkaid. He left only this behind before returning to nature.”

“Ah…”

“I’m sorry. It’s all I have to give.”

“I’ll make good use of it.”

“Good.”

Arkaid’s scale floated up and drifted through the air toward Zeon.

It was large enough to cover his entire body, and from it radiated a strange, overwhelming energy.

He didn’t know what kind of being Arkaid was, but he could tell it belonged to an ancient dragon, one of great age and power.

Dragons grow stronger with time.

The older they are, the larger they grow, and the greater their strength becomes.

To be called an Ancient Dragon meant it had lived for an unfathomably long time, far longer than any other of its kind.

Zeon stored Arkaid’s scale into his subspace.

Even then, Neria continued to fade at terrifying speed.

Only her upper body and face remained. Yet she was still smiling.

Then Neria spoke to Zeon.

“How do I look?”

“You’re beautiful.”

“Liar.”

“It’s true.”

“You have my mirror, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“I want to see it.”

“I’ll show you.”

Zeon took a bronze mirror from his robes.

It was the same mirror once held by Derod.

When Zeon held it out, Neria gazed into it.

“So it was a lie, after all.”

Neria gave a faint smile, and her eyes gleamed.

She fired her petrification beam.

The beam reflected off the bronze mirror and struck Neria herself.

In an instant, she turned to stone.

She had cut off even the faintest chance of resurrection.

The Sand Mixer ground away the petrified Neria until not a trace remained.

Only when she had completely vanished did Zeon stop the spell.

Shhhhhh!

The fiercely spinning sand scattered in all directions like clouds blown apart by wind.

“Ah…”

“Haah…”

The onlookers, both the other races and the Awakened, let out long sighs of relief.

The overwhelming presence of the Black Queen that had filled El Harun was gone.

She had been completely annihilated.

As Neria faded, those who had fallen under her power finally began to regain consciousness.

Some of them had even been turned to stone by her petrifying beam.

“Ugh…”

“Haa…”

Repo and Liala slowly came to their senses.

They blinked.

Their thoughts were still foggy, not yet fully clear after breaking free from petrification.

But soon, as their minds began to function again, they understood what had happened.

“Did someone really defeat the Black Queen?”

“Who could possibly…”

Their eyes fell on Zeon.

Not just theirs, everyone’s.

They all instinctively knew.

It was Zeon who had defeated the Black Queen.

“Are you saying that man really brought down the Black Queen?”

Liala looked at Zeon, disbelief written across her face.

She had never imagined that someone of her own race, a human, could defeat the Black Queen.

To her, the Black Queen had been a disaster incarnate, a calamity no human could ever hope to withstand.

That such a being had fallen to a single human was beyond belief.

And yet she had to believe it.

The faces of those around her confirmed it was true.

“Haah… It’s real? Unbelievable.”

Liala ruffled her hair roughly.

In the place where the calamity named Neria had vanished, a new calamity named Zeon now stood.

She had no idea how to deal with him.

Krudu of the Giants, Osolo of the Abyssals, and Garanta of the Highlanders also stared blankly at Zeon.

They were races that had always looked down on humans.

For them, approaching a human first, especially one like Zeon, was anything but easy.

In the end, it had to be Liala.

She cautiously approached Zeon.

“Ze… Zeon.”

“Yes.”

“Th-thank you.”

“Yes.”

The polite speech felt so unnatural it almost made her skin crawl, but she couldn’t talk to him the way she used to.

Her body still remembered what it was like to be beaten by him.

The pain lingered.

One more strike from him and she wasn’t sure she’d survive.

So she forced herself to smile as kindly as she could, but the expression came out stiff and awkward.

Her face twitched.

Seeing it, Zeon chuckled lightly.

“Just talk the way you did before. It’s easier to listen that way.”

“R-really?”

Liala let out a small sigh of relief.

---

“Stay here and rest for now.”

Liala gave Zeon a small, run-down house.

It was one of the empty homes in the human district.

Normally, he should have been treated as a hero.

After all, he had slain the Black Queen and saved El Harun from destruction.

But the problem was that Zeon had entered El Harun with the Black Queen.

Because of that, the other races refused to give him proper recognition or hospitality.

Liala had no choice but to bring him to the human district herself.

“I’m sorry. You deserve better than this.”

“It’s fine. This is more than enough.”

“Those stubborn idiots…”

Liala shook her head with a weary look.

The races of El Harun were proud and obstinate.

Even when they knew they were wrong, they rarely admitted it, apologizing was beneath their dignity.

To them, an apology was a humiliation.

Instead, they made amends indirectly, that was their way.

“Anyway, stay here for now. Once the council meeting is over, I’ll find you a better place.”

“You don’t need to worry about me.”

“I do worry.”

Liala truly did.

In a way, they had brought someone even more dangerous than the Black Queen into El Harun.

And right now, there was no way to control him.

He should have been treated with the utmost care and respect, but instead, the other races treated him coldly. She couldn’t understand them.

Around Zeon’s house, warriors from various races were stationed.

They were there to watch his every move.

It was a precaution ordered by the council, out of fear.

“If you need anything, just tell Danny.”

Liala beckoned to a boy who had been standing quietly nearby.

A freckled boy of about sixteen approached her side.

“His name’s Danny. Sharp and quick on his feet, you’ll find him useful.”

“I’m Danny. It’s an honor to meet you.”

Danny bowed deeply to Zeon.

His eyes shone with admiration.

Born and raised in El Harun, Danny hadn’t truly understood what kind of terror the Black Queen was. But when even the council leaders and Awakened couldn’t bring her down, he had felt the hopeless weight of her presence.

When she marched toward the World Tree, everyone thought El Harun was finished.

Danny too.

And then Zeon had stepped forward.

At first, like everyone else, Danny thought it was madness.

If even the council heads couldn’t stop her, how could one human possibly stand against the Black Queen?

But to his astonishment, Zeon hadn’t been pushed back even once. He had overwhelmed her.

The image of Zeon commanding the sands against the Black Queen was seared into Danny’s mind.

To him, Zeon wasn’t human.

No one he knew, no one in all of El Harun, possessed power like his.

A human who could overpower the other races.

To Danny, who had lived his whole life under their quiet oppression, Zeon looked like a savior.

That was why being assigned as his attendant felt like an honor.

Zeon spoke to him.

“I’ll be counting on you, Danny.”

“It’s an honor, Lord Zeon!”

“Good.”

Danny’s face lit up with joy.

Liala smiled faintly and ruffled his hair.

“He might look like that, but he’s a D-rank Awakened. Still young, lots of room to grow.”

“That’s impressive.”

“So take good care of him.”

Leaving those words behind, Liala walked out.

Once she was gone, Danny asked,

“So, what should I do first?”

“For now…”

“Yes?”

“Let’s rest.”

“Oh!”

“I’m a little tired. Let’s just take it easy for now.”

“Got it.”

Danny, who had been full of energy, suddenly looked deflated.

His shifting expressions were so vivid that Zeon couldn’t help but find them amusing.

Lying down on the bed, Zeon said,

“I’ll get some sleep. You rest too.”

“Yes, sir.”

Zeon soon drifted into a deep sleep.

Danny tilted his head, watching him softly snore.

Doesn’t he feel any pressure being here at all?