Chapter 619

Lee Yeolsan was an awakened from the Northern District.

On the surface, he looked like a pureblood human, but beastkin blood flowed through his veins.

Though the beastkin traits had completely faded after generations of dilution, his robust physique still far surpassed human limits.

Thanks to such a powerful body, Lee Yeolsan earned recognition in the Northern District and came to lead a magical beast hunting team.

The magical beast hunting team under his command mainly hunted medium-sized magical beasts.

Even though they were classified as medium-sized, they were dangerous enough that ordinary magical beast hunting teams wouldn’t dare attempt to hunt them.

Since it was a team gathered specifically to hunt medium-sized magical beasts, Lee Yeolsan’s hunting team was made up of powerful awakened.

Lee Yeolsan himself was recognized as a B-rank awakened, and his team members consisted of B-rank and C-rank awakened.

Moreover, every one of them specialized in magical beast hunting.

Of course, that didn’t mean hunting medium-sized magical beasts was easy.

They had to risk their lives.

Today, their target was the Crown Lizard.

A giant lizard with crown-shaped horns on its head.

The heart of the creature, which contained fire-attributed mana, was worth an enormous amount.

None of its other body parts were worthless either.

Its blood served as material for medicine, and its tough, elastic hide was useful for making armor linings.

In particular, the horns on its head had high mana conductivity, so if specially processed and coated onto weapons, they increased their power.

Because of this, catching just one would allow all ten members of the team to live comfortably for at least six months.

That was why Lee Yeolsan’s magical beast hunting team risked their lives hunting Crown Lizards.

“The sun is setting. It’ll appear soon. Everyone, get ready.”

“Yes, Captain!”

“Roger!”

His subordinates responded and immediately took formation.

This wasn’t their first or second hunt.

They were so experienced that Lee Yeolsan didn’t need to give detailed instructions.

After identifying the Crown Lizard’s habitat, they made thorough preparations and waited until dusk, when it usually became active.

When it came to hunting Crown Lizards, Lee Yeolsan and his team proudly considered themselves the best in the world.

Rustle!

At that moment, subtle movement stirred in the sand.

Like ripples spreading across water, the sand pushed outward in a circle, and something pure white revealed itself.

It was the Crown Lizard’s horn.

Lee Yeolsan and his men exchanged glances.

‘The horn is huge.’

‘A big catch.’

‘If we get it, we hit the jackpot.’

The larger the horn, the bigger the creature, and naturally, the byproducts were worth far more.

Judging by the horn alone, this beast was so large that they could probably live comfortably for ten months, not just six.

Rustle!

A moment later, the Crown Lizard’s head emerged above the sand.

After confirming there was no one nearby, the Crown Lizard cautiously climbed to the surface.

It was a massive specimen over ten meters long from head to tail.

The moment its full body was revealed, Lee Yeolsan shouted.

“Everyone, attack!”

“Uraaah!”

“Waaaah!”

His subordinates charged at the Crown Lizard with battle cries.

Startled, the Crown Lizard tried to burrow back into the sand, but the magical beast hunting team wouldn’t allow its escape.

Boom!

One team member hurled a large bottle toward the sand where the Crown Lizard was trying to dig.

The bottle shattered, and the liquid inside splashed everywhere.

The sand touched by the liquid quickly hardened like concrete.

“How’s that? Taste the sand hardener.”

The man who threw the bottle grinned proudly.

The liquid inside was none other than sand hardener.

It was the same sand hardener used to build houses in Sinchon, now repurposed for magical beast hunting.

The one who first came up with this idea was Lee Yeolsan.

Troubled by the Crown Lizard’s tendency to burrow into sand and attack whenever it sensed danger, he had thought of this method after seeing houses being built with sand hardener in Sinchon.

The result had been a tremendous success.

Once the sand hardened, the Crown Lizard gave up on hiding and attacked the hunting team instead.

Kwaaaa!

Bright red flames burst from the Crown Lizard’s mouth.

Lee Yeolsan and his men had completely analyzed the Crown Lizard’s attack patterns.

The Crown Lizard couldn’t use its flame attack endlessly.

After firing once, it needed a short period before it could use it again.

During that gap, they had to unleash a full assault and completely disable it.

They dodged the flame attack, then rushed in and bombarded it with attacks.

—Krrraaaah!

The Crown Lizard roared and swung its tail.

The force from its massive ten-meter body was truly overwhelming.

But Lee Yeolsan and his men, who specialized in fighting Crown Lizards, were formidable as well.

“Hyaaaah!”

“Die!”

They poured every ounce of strength they had into attacking the Crown Lizard.

Thus began the brutal bloodbath between magical beast and magical beast hunting team.

Their battle lasted for nearly half a day.

The victor of that desperate struggle was Lee Yeolsan’s magical beast hunting team.

Thud!

The Crown Lizard’s enormous body collapsed to the ground.

“We got it.”

“We won.”

The magical beast hunting team cheered.

Their appearance after defeating the Crown Lizard was utterly miserable.

Their armor was torn in many places, and their bodies were covered in wounds.

Even so, smiles filled their faces.

Though everyone had suffered injuries big and small, not a single person had died while taking down such a massive Crown Lizard.

Lee Yeolsan shouted.

“We can live comfortably for ten months. Everyone, well done!”

“Hell yeah!”

“Kraaah! This is why I can’t quit magical beast hunting.”

His subordinates laughed as they wiped the sweat from their foreheads.

Then—

“To be this happy over catching such a weak magical beast. Neo Seoul seems less impressive than I thought.”

A cold voice suddenly rang out from somewhere.

“Who the hell is that?”

“Damn it! Scavengers?”

Lee Yeolsan and his men were startled and immediately became alert.

They simply assumed scavengers had appeared.

Scavengers were like hyenas, attacking hunters when they were exhausted after a hunt.

Since they couldn’t win in direct combat, they targeted the moment of weakness.

“Scavengers? How insulting.”

At that moment, the owner of the voice revealed himself.

A man wearing a black robe.

His hood was pulled low, making it impossible to see his true face, but a sinister aura radiated from him.

Behind him stood ten others dressed identically.

Like exact copies, every one of them was shrouded in deep darkness.

Lee Yeolsan’s expression twisted.

Instinctively, he realized they were no ordinary beings.

“If you’re not scavengers, reveal yourselves.”

“Before that, let me ask one thing. You lot are from Neo Seoul, correct?”

“That’s right. We’re a magical beast hunting team from Neo Seoul.”

Lee Yeolsan deliberately emphasized Neo Seoul.

He was subtly reminding them that Neo Seoul stood behind them.

Usually, that alone was enough to make people back off in fear.

But the black-robed figures showed no sign of intimidation.

The thin lips visible beneath the hood curved upward.

They were smiling.

Lee Yeolsan raised his aura and shouted.

“Now it’s your turn. Reveal yourselves.”

“We came from the north.”

“The north? Don’t tell me… El Harun?”

“So you know.”

“Why are El Harun’s stragglers all the way out here?”

Lee Yeolsan still didn’t know that El Harun had fallen.

City Hall had thoroughly blocked that information.

Aside from a very small number of people, no one knew of El Harun’s destruction.

At that moment, the black-robed man’s lips twisted.

“Are you pretending to know, or do you truly not know?”

“Damn it! Speak clearly.”

“So you really don’t know.”

“Know what?”

“El Harun has fallen.”

“What?”

For a moment, Lee Yeolsan stood there with a blank expression.

Because beastkin blood flowed through him, he too knew about El Harun. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

His beastkin grandfather had told him stories about it.

His grandfather had always said that one day, he must go to El Harun.

That El Harun was their true root and cradle.

But Lee Yeolsan had never cared about those words.

For those like him, born in Neo Seoul, El Harun was nothing more than a legendary place from the delusions of aging heteromorphs.

Neo Seoul was his homeland.

He had never once intended to leave Neo Seoul for as long as he lived.

But that didn’t mean he wanted El Harun to be destroyed.

“El Harun really fell?”

“That’s right.”

“That’s unfortunate. So what do you expect me to do about it?”

“Half-blood—or perhaps quarter-blood? Beastkin blood still flows through you, yet that’s all the reaction you have to your homeland’s destruction?”

“Homeland? My homeland is Neo Seoul. Whether El Harun falls or not has nothing to do with me.”

“Foolish! Without El Harun, you wouldn’t even exist. And that’s all you have to say?”

“Hey! Even if your mouth is crooked, speak straight. You people were the ones who sealed yourselves away to live comfortably. By your standards, anyone weak, useless, or defective was cast into the desert. Those abandoned people struggled to survive and mixed into human society. While you lived comfortably in El Harun, our ancestors had to fight human oppression and discrimination just to prove our worth. We fought hard to carve out our place in Neo Seoul, and only now can we live among humans without standing out. And you call El Harun our homeland? Don’t make me laugh! Our homeland is Neo Seoul, and strong human blood flows through my body.”

“……”

At Lee Yeolsan’s outburst, the black-robed figure couldn’t find a proper response.

Instead, killing intent intensified throughout his body.

He spoke.

“Those who forget their roots have no future.”

“Quit spewing bullshit and tell us who you are, loudmouth bastard!”

“My name is Osollo! Leader of the glorious Shadow Tribe of Kurayan.”

“That name sounds fucking lame. Osollo?”

“How dare you!”

Swoooosh!

Enraged, Osollo charged at Lee Yeolsan at terrifying speed.

His black robe fluttered as he instantly closed the distance.

Osollo spread his hand wide, and shadows filled with darkness explosively expanded, engulfing Lee Yeolsan.

“Do not underestimate me, ghost of a fallen world!”

Lee Yeolsan roared as he transformed into a werewolf.

Compared to a pureblood werewolf, his appearance was rather shabby.

Osollo scoffed.

“A mongrel dares oppose me?”

Shhhhhk!

Black shadows swallowed Lee Yeolsan and whirled like a storm.

The powerful body of the werewolf was torn apart like paper before the storm of shadows.

“Kraaaagh!”

Lee Yeolsan’s breath ended with a horrific scream.

A pureblood werewolf could instantly regenerate unless its head was severed.

But Lee Yeolsan was no pureblood, nor did he possess such regeneration.

As for his subordinates, it was even worse.

Though heteromorph blood flowed through them as well, they were helpless before the Shadow Tribe’s assault.

In an instant, the magical beast hunting team led by Lee Yeolsan lost their lives.

Crack!

At that moment, Osollo and the Shadow Tribe’s appearances changed.

They transformed perfectly into Lee Yeolsan and his magical beast hunting team.

The Shadow Tribe possessed the ability to absorb the memories and appearances of those they killed.

Disguised as Lee Yeolsan and his team, they moved the Crown Lizard’s corpse.

Their destination was the Mana Stone Mine where the portal had been installed.