Chapter 450

The council building was filled with the leaders of each race.

Ten of them sat around a massive round table, facing one another.

Their faces were grim as they spoke.

“Zeon is the benefactor who defeated the Black Queen. He deserves proper treatment.”

“Who was it that brought the Black Queen into El Harun in the first place? It was Zeon. He entered El Harun together with her.”

“But Zeon only happened to meet her and traveled alongside her by chance. Have you forgotten? The one who first brought the Black Queen into their ranks was Hodran’s caravan. The only thing Zeon is guilty of is joining that caravan.”

“Even so, he can’t escape the responsibility of coming in with her.”

At Kelota’s absurd insistence, Liala’s face twisted in fury.

The enormous Dwarf glared at her with crossed arms, his gaze fierce and hostile.

That damned oversized Dwarf, whatever grudge he had against Zeon, he seized on every word Liala spoke, arguing over everything.

Because of that, the discussion was going nowhere.

The real problem was that the other leaders seemed to agree, even if subtly, with Kelota’s unreasonable stance.

Someone should have stepped up to support Liala, but as if by prior agreement, no one did.

Bang!

“Damn it! I can’t take this shit anymore. We should be repaying him, not sitting here spewing this garbage. Is everyone’s brain made of stone or something?”

Liala slammed her fist on the table, cursing.

Repo, the Beastkin leader, glared at her and said,

“Watch your tongue, Liala!”

“What did I say?”

“This is the honorable council. It’s not a place for such crude words.”

“Honorable? Who here is honorable? You? You? You?”

Liala sneered and pointed at the council members one by one. The faces of those she pointed to flushed red.

Kelota’s face, in particular, was a sight to behold.

“Are you insulting me, human?”

“Yeah! I am, Dwarf. What are you gonna do about it?”

“Are you seriously picking a fight?”

Kelota slammed the table and shot to his feet. But Liala didn’t even blink.

“Hmph. So full of pride for someone who’s not worth a damn…”

“You little human bitch…”

That was when Liala also shot up and shouted,

“I’m done holding back, you stunted little runt!”

“What?”

“If this is how it’s going to be, then I have no reason to stay here. I’ll take all the humans and leave El Harun.”

“What?”

“I said, we’ll leave El Harun.”

Kelota blinked, stunned by her explosive declaration.

He hadn’t imagined she would actually say something like that.

His eyes were wide with disbelief as he stammered,

“Wh–what did you just say? You’ll leave El Harun? With all the humans?”

“Yeah! You filthy Dwarf bastard.”

“You’re really saying you’ll leave?”

“That’s right! Why should we stay here and take this kind of treatment? We only endured it because we were all from El Harun, but if you’re going to keep treating us like outsiders, we’ll just leave. Isn’t that what you all want?”

“Y-you…”

Kelota’s mouth opened and closed wordlessly.

He looked down on humans, sure, but even he knew what would happen if every human left El Harun.

It would be a disaster.

Not only would there be a gaping hole in manpower, but society itself would grind to a halt.

Humans had integrated into every part of El Harun’s daily life.

There were many races gathered in El Harun, but none as socially functional as humans.

Giants were powerful but clumsy, incapable of delicate or precise work.

The Giant Dwarves were masters at mining ores, but all they cared about was making useless art pieces or weapons, not practical tools for everyday use.

As for the Elves, there was no need to even mention them.

They had completely distanced themselves from anything resembling productive labor.

It was the same with the Highlanders, Abyssals, Asil, and Shadow clans.

In the end, without humans, El Harun would collapse.

Even imagining it was enough to send chills down one’s spine.

Krudu, the Giant leader and chairman of the council, spoke carefully.

“Things are getting overheated. Let’s all calm down for a moment.”

“Who’s overheated? Me?”

“Liala!”

“Not a chance! I’m calmer and more rational than ever.”

“If you walk out now, you can never come back. Do you still mean it?”

“Yes! I don’t care.”

“Are you saying that because you trust Zeon?”

“Yeah!”

“How can you trust a human, ”

“Damn it! How many times do I have to say it? I’m a human too, you oversized oaf! Use that huge head of yours for thinking once in a while!”

Liala jabbed her finger at him furiously.

Normally, she would have spoken with respect to Krudu. But the council’s constant disdain for humans had pushed her past her limit.

Then her gaze turned to Hera.

“And why are you sitting there with your mouth shut? If you had even a shred of conscience, you’d be bowing your head to the floor by now.”

“Wh-what did I do?” Hera asked, flustered.

“Who do you think started all this? It was one of your kind. That filthy Elf bastard who sold his conscience and did unspeakable things.”

“That’s…”

“Yeah, that’s right! That Elf scum pretended to be all noble and pure on the outside, but behind the scenes, he was doing disgusting things to children, and that’s what caused all this! He preyed on dozens, human, Elf, Beastkin, it didn’t matter. And then he threw the victims to monsters to cover up the evidence!”

“That’s…”

“And you just sit there without a word of apology? Do Elves not have consciences at all?”

Hera couldn’t answer Liala’s scathing words.

El Harun had suffered great damage because of the Black Queen, but if you dug deeper, at the core of it all was the Elf, Uron.

Because of that vile old man, the Elf race’s reputation is in the dirt.

It would have been easier to pin everything on the Black Queen, but too many people already knew the truth.

There was no silencing all of them.

Liala pressed on.

“You really gonna keep that mouth shut?”

“…Haah. I’m sorry.”

“‘Sorry’? That’s it?”

“Just give us some time. We’re in chaos too.”

“Time? So you can bury it?”

“Liala, that’s a bit much.”

“What’s too much? I’m just telling the truth. Everyone knows what Elves do, when things get bad, you stall for time, play dumb, and bury it all.”

“…”

Hera’s face turned red with shame and anger.

Now Liala’s aim shifted toward the others.

“Lord Osolo! Lord Deva! Lord Raune! Don’t you have any shame either?”

“What now?”

“You called for this council because of the Black Queen, didn’t you? But you didn’t even attend.”

“That’s, ”

“And even after she appeared, you were the last to show up. Which only made the damage worse. You act like you’re above everyone else, so noble and pure you can’t let a speck of dust touch you, while all the hard, dirty work gets dumped on us humans. Isn’t that what happened again this time? And when things got truly dangerous, you showed up late, pretending to care. Isn’t that right? If you’ve got a mouth, try to deny it!”

Liala’s last words were almost a scream.

The anger she had been holding back burst forth like a volcano.

No one in the room dared try to stop her.

Liala glared around the table.

“Anyway, unless I get a reasonable answer to all this, the humans will leave El Harun. This isn’t a threat, it’s a promise.”

With those words, Liala stormed out of the council chamber.

Outside, she exhaled deeply, her face looking lighter.

“Haah!”

Letting out everything she had been bottling up felt liberating.

From the start, these were races that never truly fit together.

Even back in Kurayan, they had lived apart. On Earth, they had no choice but to live together, and that had caused endless problems.

It wasn’t just humans and other races that clashed; the races also quarreled among themselves.

Each held different ideals and desires.

For over a hundred years, they had tried to patch things up, but the gap only grew wider, until it was beyond repair.

The solution was simple.

The humans just had to leave.

Pioneering new land would be difficult, but not impossible.

The human colonies proved it.

Neo Seoul, of course, and smaller colonies as well, they were doing fine.

They could live like that again.

Start from the bottom, and build everything anew.

---

After Liala left, silence fell over the council.

The stone she had thrown had sent massive ripples across the calm lake that was the council.

After a long while, the first to speak was Deva of the Abyssals.

“This isn’t a light matter. The first priority is to calm Liala down.”

“Hmph. You don’t really think she’ll take the humans and leave, do you? She was just blowing off steam.”

“Lord Kelota.”

“Huh?”

“I’m asking you, please, don’t speak carelessly. Things already worsened because of you.”

“I was only, ”

“If you keep talking, the Abyssal clan will cut off all trade with the Giant Dwarves.”

“Wha, !”

Kelota’s eyes widened, and he fell silent, clearly frightened by Deva’s threat.

Deva then turned her gaze toward Hera.

Hera, feeling guilty, quickly avoided her eyes. But Deva didn’t care and went on speaking.

“I agree with what Liala said.”

“About what?”

“The root cause of this whole incident lies with the Elves. There needs to be a clear apology and proper compensation.”

“That’s…”

“Don’t try to dodge responsibility. We won’t let this slide.”

At Deva’s firm tone, Hera’s expression twisted slightly.

She glanced around the table for help, but everyone averted their eyes.

At last, Hera sighed in defeat.

“Haah. Fine.”

“Words alone won’t be enough.”

“I said I get it.”

It would cost them dearly, but they had no choice.

If things went wrong, the Elves might lose their place in El Harun entirely.

Unlike humans, they couldn’t survive outside of it.

They had to remain near the World Tree, no matter what.

At that point, Krudu, who had been silent until now, finally spoke.

“Zeon is the key. How we treat him will determine what Liala and the humans decide to do.”

“To think the council’s unity would fall apart over a single human…”

Repo clenched his fist in frustration.

Krudu looked at him and said,

“Be precise with your words. He’s not an ordinary human, and not just an ordinary Awakened either. He’s Earth’s only sand mage.”

“Well, yes, but still…”

“He’s too dangerous to make an enemy of.”

Krudu’s gaze sank deep in thought.

The Giants were a warrior race, forged by constant battle.

They would fearlessly charge even at Ogres or Cyclopes many times their size.

With their immense bodies and unmatched fighting power, Krudu had risen to become the chairman of the council, essentially, El Harun’s de facto leader.

But even he didn’t believe he could face Zeon head-on and win.

That was how overwhelming Zeon’s might had been.

No one knew how such a terrifying being had emerged among humans, but one thing was certain: he was a grave threat.

If he had been merely an enemy, that would have been simpler.

They could have united El Harun’s forces to oppose him.

But Zeon was a savior, the one who had delivered El Harun from the Black Queen.

They couldn’t simply turn against him.

That made things far more complicated.

Then Garanta, who had been silent until now, finally spoke.

“Continuing this discussion among ourselves won’t lead to any real answer.”

“So what are you suggesting?”

Krudu looked at him, his heavy gaze steady.

Garanta looked around at everyone and said,

“Let’s seek an answer from Lord Del Roa.”

“…”